Deja Vu
by Foxbear
Summary: While on an unexpected trip off planet, Jack and Raf put their survival skills to the test. Chapter 11 is the main reason for the T rating. There is viiolence, gore, and pain. I do not think it is gratuitous but read at your own risk.
1. Chapter 1

**Déjà vu**

** For Science**

A Transformers Prime Fanfic

Jack Darby stood in the center of the converted missile silo the Autobots called home and stared determinedly down at a pile of fabric and tent poles. The nice cube shaped cardboard box it had come in swore it was a three man tent. The box sat cheerfully beside the pile, adorned with colorful pictures of happy children frolicking around an orange tent while relaxed parents looked on with Botox smiles. The young man shot an annoyed glare at the fictional people and tried for the fourth time to thread the proper poles through the web of braces on the tent.

He heard Raf over at the table where he was preparing the scientific equipment for their joint project. Jack took a break to look over at the smaller boy. Instead of his usual jeans and sweater he was wearing baggy kaki cargo pants and a loose white long-sleeved shirt, Jack was similarly attired. His thatch of wild brown hair was bent eagerly over the microscope he was calibrating. Bumblebee hunched over the table shining his headlights down on the scene, occasionally moving this way or that in obedience to small hand gestures form his human friend. Jack still wasn't quite sure why the already accurate device needed calibrating, it had worked just fine when they tested it back at the school lab, but Raf insisted it could be better. The older boy was beginning to suspect his contribution to the project was going to be mainly muscle and reputation, rather than any real intellectual support. He smiled at the other boy and turned his attention back to the tent.

The sound of heavy foot falls soon pulled his attention away again as a sleek blue robot with pink trim strolled up to him.

"Hey partner," Arcee greeted him with a smile, "How goes the great wilderness expedition?" Jack snorted and gave a random thrust with a segmented pole at the pile of water proof fabric.

"Could be better. I'm beginning to suspect this tent was designed by a Decpticon spy, in order to demoralize the human population," the young man replied ruefully.

"Can I help?" offered the bot.

"Give it a go. You certainly couldn't do any worse than I am." Arcee knelt down, carefully picked up the fabric, and shook it out. A rain of candy wrappers, pine needles, and dead moths fell on Jack's upturned face. The bot tried to suppress a chuckle as her partner hacked and sneezed. She picked up the box in her other hand and read the instructions. Carefully selecting the longest pole she threaded it through one of the brackets. Jack held his breath and watched hopefully. Just as he thought he saw a vague tent shape starting to emerge a wave of roaring green chaos erupted into the base. Arcee jerked and lunged out of the way as a green hummer squealed to a stop in the base, heavy metal thundering out of its speakers. A small Asian girl bounded out of the driver's door waving a guitar and shouting.

"Free at last! Five day weekend! Let the fun begin!" She stopped as she sensed the glares directed her way.

"What? Why is everyone so stiff? Common this weekend will be EPIC!" The girl gave her instrument a powerful strum on the last word.

"Miko! Please stop I have to get this scope calibrated. Jack and I have to leave in just a few hours," Raf pleaded from the table. Arcee handed a shredded pile of water proof fabric and fiberglass splinters to Jack with an apologetic look. He stared glumly at what used to be a tent then shrugged.

"Oh well, I guess we can just use mosquito netting. Not like it's going to rain there over the weekend." From the medibay a gruff voice shouted for somebot to turn that noise off before he came out there and permanently deactivated that bot's speakers. Blukhead transformed, shutting off the music as he did so.

"Sheesh, what's with everyone?" Miko demanded, "this was supposed to be a fun weekend." Jack stared at the slim Asian girl in exasperation.

"Miko! We told you about this days ago. My grades have been slipping, so Raf and I are doing an extra credit project over the long weekend. We'll be camping out in the desert for four nights and running photosynthesis experiments on algae. Remember?" the young man demanded.

"Oh, yeah," the girl said slowly, "you're going out in the desert; no beds, no baths, no TV, no internet. You're going to play with pond scum and sleep with spiders, ugghh!" Miko shuddered dramatically. "I'll just stay here with Bulk and live like a civilized human being, thank you very much." She jumped up onto the massive green Autobot's hand and scampered up to his shoulder.

"Common Bulk, let's get the chores over with so we can watch that Monster Truck Mash Up at seven." Bulkhead walked off into the depths of the base with the girl bouncing to some internal theme. Jack just shook his head and started organizing things into the two waiting backpacks. Raf shrugged and reached for the next instrument.

A few hours later they were ready to go. Arcee transformed and the loaded most of the gear on herself. Jack put on his camping backpack and looked back at Raf. The boy was trying to extract himself from Bee's grasp. The bot was carefully adjusting the backpack and whistling worriedly.

"Bee! We'll be fine. Jack is with me. We've already been over this. The science teacher will be coming out on Sunday to check on our project, if she sees your tracks she'll be suspicious. What? Yes, she'll notice. She's creepy that way. Don't be like that. I'll be back every day for my daily exam, and Ratchet has modified our phones so we can call back on a secure line. Yes, I'll be safe."

"Bee! Let him go!" Arcee finally snapped. "You don't see me smothering Jack do you?" Bumblebee shot the blue motorcycle a hurt look and gently carried the boy over to the ground bridge. Ratchet was at the controls and June stood by on the platform. Jack helped jumped up onto Arcee and Bee set Raf carefully behind him. Ratchet activated the groundbridge and a swirling emerald portal opened in the wall. June waved cheerfully goodbye as Arcee carried the boys out into the Nevada desert.

After they were gone she walked to the edge of the platform and called out.

"Autobots! We need to talk." Ratchet turned to her in surprise and Bumblebee came over from where he was moping over Raf's leftover equipment. The human woman turned to Ratchet and said, "Would you please call Optimus and Bulkhead? You all need to hear this. It's about Rafael." Bumblebee let out a frantic chirp and leaned over Mrs. Darby blue optics whirling. She guessed at his concern,

"No Bumblebee, nothing is _wrong _with him. I just need to talk to all of you." Nevertheless the yellow bot fidgeted worriedly until Optimus Prime strode into the room, with Bulkhead and Miko not far behind.

"Mrs. Darby," the red and blue Autobot leader said, "you wanted to see us." June nodded. Even as she opened her mouth to speak a small part of her mind took the time to be amazed that here she was about to give a common lecture, one she had given a hundred times to worried families, to a war unit of two story tall alien robots.

"It's about Rafael," a worried look swept across the faces of the waiting Autobots, "I've been speaking to his mother and she is worried about him, she's noticed a change. You see after his injury we have all been treating him with extra care. Which is good and right," she said. "In addition to diet and medicine a recovering human needs lots of affection from family and friends to heal properly. Epically important is what we call the 'human touch'." She smiled around at the intent looks of the faces around her. "In this case the giant cybernetic organism touch works as well." Miko let out a laugh at that. "You have all been going out of your way to touch and hold Raphael, and I am very glad of that. That personal contact is so important to human recovery. I can't stress it enough." Ratchet nodded and interjected,

"That is another similarity between Autobots and humans. We too, only truly thrive with physical contact from those close to us." June smiled at him.

"Yes. But now I believe that it would be in Rafael's best interests for us all to tone it back a little." A surprised ripple ran through the gathered friends. Miko interjected,

"But you just said, like, hugs and punches were a good thing!" June arched and eyebrow and inquired, "Punches?"

Bee let out a little chirp and gave Miko a dirty look.

"Kisses, I mean kisses. Hugs and kisses, you know buddies on the cheek kisses?" Miko hurriedly corrected herself shooting her best 'I'm utterly innocent' face at the yellow bot. June smiled and shook her head.

"Yes I did. But, as I've been telling Ratchet, one of the most important factors in human health is balance. Water is essential to life, but you can still have too much. Rafael is physically well now but is still traumatized from the event. He is struggling with feelings of helplessness and fear. You have all gone out of your way to make him feel safe. Now we need to let him feel that he isn't helpless."

"And how are we gonna' do that?" demanded Bulked.

"First of all, you need to stop carrying him everywhere. Humans have legs for a reason. Let him use them." The Autobots nodded slowly. Optimus gave a smile and said,

"I must confess my own guilt there. It is simply very reassuring to hold him and know he is alive."

"I know exactly what you mean," the nurse replied as she thought back to when Jack was a baby, "and I'm not saying to stop. Just hold back some, and try to limit asking how he feels to once a day."

"Have you spoken to Arcee about this?" Optimus asked.

"Yes, and Jack as well. That is what this trip is partially about, Mrs. Esquivel and I planned it out. Going into the wilderness with other males is an ancient traditional way of building confidence. I had Jack suggest the location to Rafael with that in mind. In addition to just the science project they are going to do some traditional male bonding rites. Meanwhile Raf's father has been doing similar things at his home."

"Whoa! What kind of traditional rites? Hunting wolves with their bare hands and eating the beating hearts? Hiking barefoot across the desert in one night?" asked Miko eagerly.

"Actually; fire building, ghost stories, and roasting hotdogs over the campfire," June replied with a smile.

"Oh," Miko slumped disappointed back against Bulkhead.

"That's all I had to say, thank you for listening, but now I have to go to work" said Mrs. Darby.

"I'll bridge you to your garage," Ratchet offered as the other Autobots dispersed. June shook her head and waved toward the exit. "I'll drive. It's a lovely day out."

"Very well, have a nice shift," the medibot said. The woman climbed into her car and drove away.

A bit later Arcee radioed in for a bridge back. Ratchet dialed in the coordinates and the green portal appeared obediently. Arcee came through and was immediately accosted by Bumblebee.

"Didn't June have that talk with you?" She asked in reply to his eager inquiry. Bee narrowed his optics at her. She relented and answered,

"They are just FINE Bee. For Primus's sake Jack blew up Ariachnid's ship with a multi-tool. I think he can handle a camping trip." Arcee immediately regretted her words, the last thing Bee needed was to be reminded of was the psychotic, human hunting spider bot out there somewhere. The blue and pink bot shook her head and said,

"Common Bee, we have scouting to do. Let's go get our orders from Prime. Ratchet, where's Optimus?"

"Energon storage," the old bot grunted and waved without looking up from his displays. Arcee tried to pull Bumblebee after her down the hallway but he whistled out a question to Ratchet.

"Oh, probably nothing," the old bot replied, "Just an odd energy spike when Arcee bridged in. It happens all the time." Bee nodded and followed Arcee down the hallway. Ratchet frowned at the screen. It was an odd reading, he would run some diagnostics before the boys bridged back the next morning.


	2. Chapter 2

Off We go!

Déjà vu 2

A Transformers Prime Fanfic

Hot wind rolled over the hills and valleys of the orange Nevada desert. Rafael Esquivel winced back from the glare of the noonday sun, blinded for a moment after coming out of the cool interior of the base. He held on a little tighter to the older boy in front of him on the blue motorcycle as she landed with a slight bump on the cracked asphalt. The bike rolled easily out onto the fine sand at the end of the road and stopped at the embankment built to keep joyriders from disturbing the sensitive desert ecosystems beyond. Raf looked around from his perch and spotted the flat topped hill Mrs. Darby had told them about. He was eyeing the distance they would have to hike, more than once, to get all the equipment up there when Arcee asked,

"Planning on getting off any time soon?"

Raf started then almost fell off the bike in his haste to scramble down. Only Jack's hand grabbing his backpack saved him from a face full of Nevada sand. His face flushed as he regained his feet. He was only slightly mollified when Jack too, nearly overbalanced dismounting. The older boy pushed his black hair out of his eyes and grinned at his friend.

"Maybe I did load the packs a bit top heavy," he said ruefully. "Hey, help me unload Arcee." The two boys had the bulging saddlebags off the Autobot in no time. It took a bit longer to untie the plastic bag of odds and ends they would need for the project. After everything was on the ground Jack turned to Raf and said,

"Why don't you go scout out a good site for our base camp while I finish organizing this stuff into pack loads?"

The smaller boy sat back on his haunches and nodded.

"Okay, that way we can be all set up before dark."

"Wait a minute," Arcee called. The boys turned toward her. "Ratchet had Agent Fowler get you guys something for the trip from your military's surplus supplies. It's in the left saddle bag." The boys glanced at each other warily and cautiously approached the bag. Arcee laughed.

"Don't worry. It's nothing explosive. He just got some head coverings to protect you from solar radiation." Jack opened the bag and pulled out two very old pith helmets. They were cork covered with faded brown canvas and looked to the boys like they had never been out of the box, since maybe WWII, or even WWI Jack thought. Rafael seemed excited by the find however.

"Cool! Just like the hats they used to wear on safaris, and scientific expeditions." He popped the hat on his head and secured the ties under his chin. Jack shook his head but did the same.

Raf turned eagerly and trotted around the sandy burm out into the desert. As soon as he was out of sight of the Autobot and Jack he felt the hairs on the back of his neck prickle. He put up a hand to smooth them down, and told himself firmly that there were no Decpticons in the area. Ratchet would have detected them as soon as they bridged here. Still, he looked nervously at a raven soaring on a thermal until the bird was out of sight.

The boy glanced around the trailhead. It belonged to one of the less used of the State Parks. The boys had chosen it precisely because there was very little chance anyone would see them bridging in or out of camp or wonder where their motorcycle had disappeared off to. He chose one of the less traveled paths that led off into the mesquite in the general direction of the flat topped hill and followed it until he came to a fire blackened stone ring. The ring sat in the middle of a small clearing in the brush. There was an old beer can or two scattered around, but from the weeds covering the ground Raf could see that no one had been here in several years. Somewhere in the distance a stream was running through the desert. Raf nodded to himself. This was good. He followed the path a bit further until he could see that it did lead up to the needed hill, then turned and went to get Jack.

In the time he was gone the older boy had sorted all the gear into piles. Jack was leaning on the blue motorcycle with one hand laughing at something she had said. Raf felt a surge of relief at the sound. Until that point he hadn't realized how nervous he'd felt alone out under the open sky. Arcee turned her front end toward Raf and called out cheerfully,

"So, did you find a good basecamp?"

Rafael nodded eagerly.

"It has access to water, cover on all four sides, a fire pit, it's close to the hill, and it doesn't look like anyone's used it in years," he explained.

"Sound ideal," the bot said, "Well, you two seem to have everything under control here. I'll be getting back to base."

The boys said their goodbyes and the Autobot rolled off into the ground bridge. After she was gone Raf felt the fear began to creep back up on him. He stole a glance at Jack. The older boy seemed just fine with the situation and was resecuring his backpack. Raf hurriedly tried to struggle into his but couldn't quite get one shoulder strap on.

"Here, let me help you with that," Jack offered. The older boy came over and lifted up on the corners of the pack steadying it. Raf managed to get his arm in the strap and snapped the waist buckle closed. Jack handed him a box and chose one for himself.

"Lead on, Professor Esquivel," Jack called out cheerfully. It took them four trips to haul everything to the base camp. They took a short break to purify and drink some water from the stream, then headed up the hill. All the way up the hill Raf lagged behind Jack panting and gasping. He was glad the older boy was so caught up in the excitement of the task at hand. Jack didn't seem to notice his weakness. Raf just couldn't seem to keep his breath ever since the accident. At the summit the smaller boy finally caught up. Jack was bent over a contraption that seemed intent on strangling his arm. The young man struggled with it for several minutes while Raf unloaded the rest of the gear. Finally Jack let out a grunt of frustration and looked up at Rafael.

"A little help here?" He asked meekly. Raf smiled and came over. With a few quick movements the tangle of metal and wire resolved into a small but complex solar collection array. Jack shook his head and grinned down at Raf in admiration.

"And, this is why Ratchet doesn't let a non-genius like me help with the computers," he laughed. Raf flushed at the implied compliment and protested,

"That's not it. He just knows I like to help out and stuff."

"And yet, one of us has a G.P.A. in desperate need of first aid," Jack said as they began securing clear, used plastic soda bottled into the array. "I really wanted to thank you for helping me out like this, Raf," Jack continued. "We all know your grades sure don't need an extra credit boost. But with everything that's happened these last few months," Jack paused as the crazy events replayed themselves in his mind, "well, let's just say it's been hard to keep my mind on Art History and the mammalian digestive system knowing that Arcee is out there fighting the cons."

"I know what you mean," Raf agreed. "I get real worried about Bee. Even though I know he can take care of himself. Especially now that I know how much it hurts to take an energon blast. And I really don't mind working on the science project. It's fun."

Back at cam a few hours later Jack was beginning to question his friend's definition of 'fun'.

"So, r is the algae's carrying capacity…"

"No, K is the substrate's carrying capacity. 'r' is the algae's growth rate. We control K by adding or withholding nutrients to modulate r, except…" Rafael went on explaining the formula they were going to use and Jack tried to pay attention. He finally glanced up at the sky and said,

"Hey Raf. We'd better get a fire started. Do you want to gather fire wood or start the kindling?"

Rafael considered the options. He had never started a fire before and it sounded fun. Besides, gathering wood meant going out into the mesquite alone.

"I'll get the fire going," he said. Jack stood up and stretched. He handed over his multitool and headed off into the brush. Raf watched him stride away and wondered if he would ever be that cool and confident. The boy turned his attention to the task at hand. He had read up thoroughly on how to start a fire with a magnesium tool like this but had never actually tried to do it. He was still struggling with it when Jack came back with a bulging armload of dead branches. The older boy didn't say anything about his lack of progress though. Just set the wood down and went back for more. By the time Raf had a steady flame going Jack had amassed what looked to the smaller boy like a huge pile of wood. But when Raf questioned him about it Jack just said that he'd be surprised how fast they burned through it. After a dinner of organic (even on a camping trip June Darby would only lower her standards so far) hotdogs, baked veggie chips, and marshmallows the boys crawled into their sleeping bags and fell sound asleep.

The next morning they took their first readings on the algae growth and Raf carefully recorded them in the weather proof notebook. After breakfast the hiked back to the trail head. Right on time the emerald portal opened and they walked back into the cool confines of the base where Ratchet and Mrs. Darby were waiting for them.

Jack waved at his mother and called out a cheery 'Good morning' as he brushed off the desert dust. She smiled back at him over a cup of coffee. Arcee was waiting for him by the human's living area. Before he could go over to her he felt a tug on his sleeve. Raf was frowning up at him.

"Jack, did that groundbridge feel, funny, to you?" he asked. Jack shook his head,

"Not that I noticed, why?"

The smaller boy seemed about to say something then changed his mind.

"No reason." Raf turned and followed Ratchet into the medibay. Jack's attention was caught by Optimus Prime. The Autobot leader was standing in his usual station in front of the main display screen. He had been staring intently at the boys with an odd expression on his face. It was as if he was trying to remember something important, Jack thought.

"Uh, Optimus, is something wrong?" Jack asked in confusion. The Prime started and shook his head.

"No Jack, nothing is wrong. It is good to see you both back safe." Optimus turned back to his readouts. Jack shrugged and walked over to his waiting partner. Later Raf came walking out of the medibay chatting animatedly with Bumblebee. He ran up to Jack and said happily.

"Guess what? Ratchet let Bee take the readings today." The yellow bot whistled in happy confirmation. Jack grinned at them both and got up from the couch where he'd been chatting with Arcee.

"I guess it's time to get back to work then," he said. Bumblebee's face fell and he let out a pleading whistle.

"No Bee, we need to get back," said Raf firmly. "We'll have a racing tournament when this is over though." The yellow Autobot nodded glumly and followed the boys back to the ground bridge. They waved goodbye again as Ratchet entered the coordinates. This time Jack did feel something wrong with the bridge, and instead of arriving at the end of a hot dusty road they were back in the cool confines of a lab. The air smelled funny and the wall of the groundbridge chamber looked wrong somehow. Jack glanced down at Raf to comment that something must have gone wrong, but was stopped by the look of utter astonishment on the boy's face.

Jack turned to look in the direction that should have led back into the base. Instead of the familiar rock confines of the base groundbridge they were in a shining metal cylinder. Looking out Jack could see what he could only guess was a Cybertronian laboratory. And standing at a control consol with a look of astonishment in its blue optics easily equal to Raf's, was a midsized, white and red Cybertronian Jack had never seen.


	3. Chapter 3

Not on Earth

Déjà vu 3

A Transformers Prime Fanfiction

Jack Darby quickly shoved the smaller boy behind him and crouched ready to run. His mind raced and his blue eyes darted around what he could see of the Autobot sized laboratory. A marked exit there, several good hiding spots there and there. Several devices that might be useful as weapons scattered about. The Cybertronian was still standing where they had first seen him, stunned at the control panel, but Jack could see he was coming out of it. Jack grabbed Raf's shoulder and pulled him along as he dove out of the metal cylinder and underneath a nearby table. Raf scrambled to get his footing on the slick metal floor.

The older boy stopped for a moment and shoved his hair out of his eyes. Raf glanced up at him and whispered frantically,

"Where are we?"

Jack kept looking around the room as he answered.

"I have no idea. But I didn't see any faction badge on that bot. I'd rather not take chances with an unaligned. Let's just get out of here and figure out where we are."

"But he did have blue optics," Raf pointed out, "Maybe we should ask him for help." Jack shook his head.

"I don't think so Raf. There's only one other group on this planet with groundbridge tech."

"Con's," whispered the smaller boy.

"Besides," continued Jack as he calculated the best way to the exit, "Makeshift had blue optics. Now wait for my signal then run! When we get to the door I'll lift you up and you trigger the release. If that doesn't work we run for the other side of that case. Got it?" Raf crouched obediently beside Jack but cast a wistful and searching look back at where he had seen the strange bot. There was _something _familiar about him, if he could only stay a little while longer he might figure out what. But Jack hissed "GO!", and they were running across the slippery floor, dodging between crates and cases to stay out of the Cybertronian's line of sight. They reached the door marked with the Cybertronian sigil for exit and Jack crouched down with his palms flat against the wall under the control panel. Raf scrambled up and stood on his shoulders. Jack stood up and stretched. Raf reached for the panel but it was still a foot or two above his head.

"We need more height Jack!" he called down franticly. The bot had spotted them and was weaving its way through the crowded lab to get to them. Jack grunted and grabbed the boy's feet.

"Balance yourself!" he said, and shoved up with all his strength. The extra reach of Jack's arms was just enough to lift Raf up to the panel. He smacked the open control and prayed it wasn't coded. The door swung open and a rush of strange smelling air blew in from the dark outside. Jack dropped Raf down to the floor as carefully as he could. Before they bolted out into the night, Jack grabbed two line welders from a low shelf. He handed one of the devices, about the same shape as a ballpoint pen but about fifty times as large, to Raf and activated his. They ran. Just as they got out of sight of the door an alarm sounded from the building. They came to a corner and Jack slashed at it with the laser beam.

Neither boy could say how far they ran, or how long when Raf collapsed on the metal roadway. Jack skidded to a halt and ran back to his friend. The smaller boy was gasping and incoherent, tears of exhaustion running down is face. Jack scooped him up and carried him into a large alleyway. They crouched together behind several massive containers until they caught their breath.

"Hungry," Raf whispered to himself.

"What?" Jack asked.

"Nothing," Raf replied embarrassed by the show of weakness. Jack tried to stand but stumbled.

"Wow," he said at last, "I'm hungry." The older boy reached into one of the massive pockets in his cargo pants and pulled out a bag of soy jerky. He took a small handful and handed the rest of the package to Raf. The brown haired boy dug in eagerly. The Darby's "alternative" food was never high on his list of good things to eat, but he was suddenly starving.

"Remember to chew it well," Jack said. "It's kinda' tough." Raf tried to nod in response but was suddenly seized by a fit of coughing. Jack handed over a bottle of water pulled from another pocket. Raf idly wondered if Jack had been a clown in a past life. With their immediate needs taken care of, the boys tried to assess their situation. They each had their safari hats, loose white shirts, cargo pants, line welder from the lab, their cell phones, socks, and tennis shoes. Jack had another package of soy jerky, but no more water, his multi-tool, a couple of agates from the stream bed, a few pens and pencils, a couple of rubber bands, an unused red balloon, and his project notebook. Raf had a scientific calculator, several pencils and pens, several agates from the stream, a pair of mini binoculars, his project notebook, and a soda can tab. Raf finished listing off what they had and sat back. It didn't look like much. He said as much. Jack glanced up at him and got a determined look on his face.

"Maybe Raf, but you missed the most important things," the older boy said. Raf glanced around the small pile in confusion. That was all there was.

"What did I miss?" he asked.

"We have ourselves. Our own strength, skills, and determination. No one on Earth knows more about Cybertronians than we do. I have my survival training. You have your ability to understand anything electronic or cybernetic. We have each other." Jack stopped here and stared straight into Raf's eyes. "We WILL make it home."

Raf felt a strong sense of relief and determination flow through him. He nodded and grasped Jack's hand. They shook over their small pile of belongings.

"We WILL make it home." Raf agreed.

They bent to put the stuff back into their pockets. Behind Jack, further down the alley, Raf saw a dim glow. He pointed it out to Jack the two of them carefully crept closer. The alley ended in a translucent wall with a jagged hole in one corner that was letting a cold breeze in. Both boys stopped and stared in wonder at the view laid out below under the glow of twin moons.

"I don't think we're on Earth Jack," Raf whispered in awe.


	4. Chapter 4

Acid Burns

Déjà vu 4

A Transformers Prime Fanfiction

Spread out for hundreds of yards down and miles in either direction a bustling city surged and ebbed under two moons. Robots of every size and description strolled, ran, and rolled down a wide thoroughfare and dozens of smaller streets. Lights in all colors of the rainbow glowed and blinked from hundreds of buildings. Jack just stared in open mouthed wonder. It was one of the most amazing, beautiful things he had ever seen, alien and terrifying, familiar and welcoming. What he had thought at first was a city street was in reality only one corridor in one massive building.

Muttering at his side finally drew his attention away from the panorama before him. Raf had the mini-binoculars pressed to his glasses and was staring intently down at the street below. Jack realized with a start that the smaller boy was trying to translate some of the sigils that decorated the buildings. He shook his head in wonder. Raf's ability to absorb languages was downright superhuman sometimes. Of the signs he could see, he could make out none of them looked even remotely familiar. Jack realized suddenly that a chill had begun to seep into him. In the dim light he could see Raf's hands trembling as the clutched the binoculars. He rested a hand on his friend's shoulder.

"Raf, we need to move somewhere warmer," Jack said gently.

Rafael blinked up at him vaguely, not quite paying attention. The older boy could see that his mind was still on the alien language below.

"Raf! We need to move," he said, more urgently.

The smaller boy turned his head back to the streets below and said absently,

"Okay, as soon as I'm done we'll go to the Library to get warm."

A frown creased Jack's face. What did Raf mean? They were nowhere near a library of any sort. Was he hypothermic already?

"Raf? What are you talking about?"

Raf must have heard the worry in his friend's voice because he turned his full attention to him and explained.

"See that large blue set of sigils across from us and a few stories above ground level? That translates as 'hall of public records/communication', basically 'library'. It looks like not too many bots are going in and out of it so I think we can duck in there to hide and warm up. If I can access their public records I can find out where we are and stuff."

"How do you even know that?" Jack demanded, flustered, "I mean since when are you an expert on alien languages?"

Raf looked up at him seriously.

"Jack, don't you realize where we are? This is Iacon, the capital of Cybertron."

Jack stared at his friend for a moment, absolutely stunned. Protests rose up in him. That was impossible, Cybertron was too far away and long dead, but he turned to look out again. It made sense; the strange bot in the lab, the teaming masses of cybernetic people below, the great city-scape spread out in front of him. In the distance he spotted what could only be the Crystal Gardens, described to him time and again by Arcee. Jack raised one had and pressed it to the reassuring solidity of the window/wall in front of him.

"But how?" he whispered in awe, "How did we get here?"

Raf pushed his glasses more firmly onto his face with one finger and frowned speculatively, deep in thought.

"Remember what Optimus read out of the Covenant of Primus? How all those planets and stars were aligned? That means that there was a direct line of gravitational sinks between Cybertron and Earth. I'm betting that something drew our groundbridge wormhole along that chain and dumped us out here."

"But that alignment happened days ago Raf," Jack protested, "and besides that, Arcee, all the bots have told us, Cybertron is dead." Jack waved toward the city. Life; wild and raw undeniably surged along below. Raf lifted his binoculars to look down at the street again.

"The main alignment might be over, but the residual effects could possibly last for years, until the celestial bodies move much farther apart." He muttered, clearly focused on the scene below. "Anything that has the ability to move matter across space almost surely has the ability to move it across time as well."

Jack was listening hard now. The full realization of what Rafael was saying began to sink in.

"Look down at the bot's on the street Jack," Raf whispered as he handed the older boy the micro-binoculars. Jack accepted them and searched the Cybertronians on the street. It didn't take the older boy long to get Raf's point.

"None of them, not one, has a faction symbol," Jack said softly.

"We're on Cybertron Jack, Cybertron _before_ the war."

Jack stared at Raf's upturned face. It glowed with wonder and joy. Jack latched onto that look and held it tight. His own mind was a swirling mass of chaos. Confusion, fear, and a sense of being massively overwhelmed rushed through him. This was all impossible. But Raf was here. His friend trusted him, needed him. It was his responsibility to take care of the smaller boy as best he could. Jack took a deep breath and focused on the first task in front of him.

"So, how do we get to this library?"

A blue blurr sped past, leaving an odd smell and a ringing in the ears. Dozens of other vehicles whipped by, slightly more slowly but no quieter. The two boys crouched under the chassis of a bot that looked for all the world like a garbage truck, only much bigger. Raf had tried to explain to Jack what it actually was but Jack had only been interested in whether it would provide them with cover at a decent speed to get across the wide and complicated street. They heard the bot rev its engine in preparation for the move across the thoroughfare.

"Ready?" Jack whispered, grasping Raf's arm in a fireman's hold. Raf nodded his head curtly and returned the grip. He could easily stand under the bot, but Jack had to crouch over. The older boy's hands were scraped and raw, one knee was starting to bleed through his pants leg, and one side of his face was going to be an interesting shade of blue in the next few hours. Raf was pretty sure he looked about the same. To avoid being seen they had climbed out the damaged section of the wall and worked their way down the many ledges that covered the outside of the building. The course Raf had charted after studying the building across from them had led to a few hair raising incidents but they had survived it. Now all they had to do was cross a multilane highway where the "cars" were just short of breaking the sound barrier.

Jack had spotted the vehicle they were under moving from one side of the street to the other at a speed that was almost a creep compared to the other wheeled forms. Raf had calculated that they could keep up with it. Now they would find out. They began to trot along with the machine as it slowly picked up speed. Soon they were both running. Raf's lungs began to burn as each second of the run ticked by. Had he miscalculated the bot's speed? Had he miscalculated the width of the road? Surely it had been too long. They should have made the other side by now. He felt Jack's grip tighten on his arm and tried to run faster. Suddenly Jack grabbed his belt and threw him up onto the Autobot sized sidewalk. The older boy scrambled up after him.

All Raf wanted to do was lay panting on the warm metal for awhile but jack was dragging at his arm again. They had to move, get out of sight. The boy stumbled to his feet and let Jack lead him closer to the wall of the building. It had looked much smaller from their vantage point than it did now. Jack half led, half dragged, Raf along its base until they came to a cluster of neon lighted poles. The two ducked into the center of the stand and sat down surrounded by their flashing multicolored lights. Rafael tried to lean back against one of the poles but they gave off an unpleasant tingle.

"Back to back," whispered Jack. Raf nodded scooted around. He leaned into the comforting mass of his friend. He tried not to break down and cry. For him this was a dream come true, but even the most wonderful dreams must give way before exhaustion and hunger. He wanted to be back with his mom and dad and sisters and brothers, snuggled into bed waiting for Bee to come pick him up. Jack must have sensed his feelings because he reached back and rested his hand on one of Raf's. The smaller boy leaned his head back to rest it on Jack's shoulder. He stared up at the clouds forming against the few stars that shone through the moonlight and streetlights. Something began to nag at the back of his mind, something Bumblebee had said about rain.

"The door to the library is only a few yards away now," Jack whispered as soon as he got his breath back. "Now all we have to do is wait for somebot to go in and follow."

Raf nodded absently and said,

"Jack? I think it's going to rain soon."

Jack glance at what they could see of the sky and scowled.

"Just what we need, to get even colder," he muttered.

"Uh, I think it might be worse than that," Raf said softly.

"Worse how?" Jack asked.

"I, can't quite remember," admitted the smaller boy, "I just think Bee told me something bad about rain on Cybertron once."

"I think you're right," Jack said, "Everyone is getting off the street." It was true. The traffic hadn't stopped but there were suddenly many fewer bots on the road and sidewalks. The ones who were left all wore the same type of full chassis armor. Jack lunged to his feet and pulled Raf up after him. They crouched among the lighted pillars, ready to run for the library door as soon as the opportunity presented itself. Jack felt a drop of rain hit his pith helmet. Curiosity made him hold out a hand. A drop fell on it and a searing pain shot across his skin. He gasped and yanked Raf close to his chest, leaning over him.

"Acid!" Jack gasped out, belatedly remembering. "Arcee one told me the rain was acid powerful enough to corrode Autobot armor."

Raf let out a small noise and shrunk closer to his friend. Jack was gasping and hissing as the rain began to patter down on his thin shoulders. Raf hated to think of the older boy taking that pain to protect him, but could do nothing to alleviate it. Suddenly there was a rush of metal on metal and a sleek silver and blue bot loped by, headed for the library door. The boys were running again, staying as close to the bot as they could without being stepped on. It's massive feet threw up acid spray that burned at the boys' exposed skin. Then they stopped. They were at the door. The bot ran it's servos lightly over the control panel keying in a code. Jack and Raf waited below praying for him to hurry. Finally the door slid open and the bot strolled in with the humans following after.


	5. Chapter 5

Busted!

Déjà vu 5

A Transformers Prime Fanfic

Row upon row of curving computer consuls stretched off into the dim distance on the massive circular building. There was no overhead lighting; rather the light came from each individual information kiosk. Each horseshoe shaped station rose straight out of the floor to wrap around a bot. Lights flashed and danced up and down the sides of each, not confined to buttons and indicators, but flowing almost organically over the surfaces, which also shifted and moved as small plates and wires rearranged themselves. Raf stared around in glee, for a moment forgetting his hunger, thirst, and pain. The collected knowledge of one of the greatest civilizations the universe had ever known was suddenly at his ginger tips.

His revere was rudely interrupted by a painful tug on his arm. Jack was pulling him along again, after the silver and blue Cybertronian. They ran along at his heels; stopping when he did. He stopped frequently, to exchange words with the bots at their stations, but never for long. Jack noticed that each interaction was short and initiated by the silver and blue bot. The human prided himself on being able to read Cybertronian emotions, and while the bot they were following was consistently friendly, the information bots only looked annoyed, and answered as shortly as possible. The older boy was taking advantage of the fact that the data bots were studiously avoiding eye contact with the interloper by running at his feet. It seemed to be working because no one had noticed them yet. Jack thought with bemusement that they sure acted like busy librarians.

Finally Jack saw what he was looking for, and the silver and blue bot was headed right for it. A lighted kiosk stood near one wall of the massive building. Above and beyond it a massive wall/window showed the glowing city through the acid rain. The interface surface was angled away from the rest of the room so that the two small organics wouldn't be seen crawling over it. Most importantly, and unlike the rest of the stations, this one was empty. The bot they were following strolled up to the kiosk and glanced around before heading back farther into the building.

Raf and Jack dashed into the inner ring of the station. The smaller boy collapsed gasping onto the floor and curled up into a fetal position. Jack leaned against the kiosk wall and closed his eyes while he caught his breath. His shoulders and back burned like fire where the acid had burned through the shirt. His pants had protected his lower body but his feet were beginning to sting. He glanced down and saw that he was leaving a gooey trail where the acid was dissolving his sneakers. He let out an exclamation and kicked the shoes off his feet. He reached over and carefully pulled the shoes off the unresisting Rafael. Jack tucked the dissolving mess up against the base of one wall and hoped no one would follow the trail they'd left. He took off his shirt to examine it. There were a few small holes surrounded by discoloration at the shoulders but on the whole the sturdy cotton had held up well. The pith helmet as well was remarkably undamaged except for the metal eyelets. Jack hung them both over a protruding switch that was giving off heat on the kiosk and prayed the acid wasn't flammable.

"Raf," he whispered, and walked over to the shivering boy, "Come over here. It's warmer." Jack helped the smaller boy up and over to where his shirt was hanging. Like most libraries, this one was kept cool for the sake of data storage. While it was warmer than being outside it was still uncomfortable. The station, like most mechanical equipment, gave off its excess energy as heat. Tucked inside the curve of the horseshoe shaped kiosk it was still a little chilly, but much better than nothing. Jack crouched down next to Raf and wrapped one arm around the smaller boy's shoulders. Raf leaned into his friend and slowly began to stop shivering.

Jack wasn't sure exactly when he dozed off but he was woken by Rafael slipping out from under his arm. The boy genius was staring up at the kiosk's inner wall with a look of determination on his face. Jack felt his shirt to see if it was dry and gingerly put it on. The acid had evaporated, leaving the cotton stiff and harsh. The boy winced and bit his lip as it settled painfully over his singed back and arms. He thought about just going shirtless, but they might have to make a break for the street again and the cotton seemed to offer some protection.

"Jack, I think I can climb it," Raf called quietly.

"Yes, I think that is our best bet," Jack agreed eyeing the wall. "But first I think we should eat." The older boy pulled out the bag of soy jerky and tore it open. The two boys chewed the protein slowly. Without any water to wash it down it was hard to keep back fits of coughing. Jack realized that they would have to find a source of water soon.

After they had eaten Raf began scrambling up the uneven surface of the kiosk wall. Jack positioned himself below in case the boy fell. At one point Jack heard his friend let out a low cry of pain, but the boy just kept moving up. As soon as he saw Raf scramble over the edge of the station Jack started up after him. At the point he had heard the painful noise he found blood smeared on a thin wire. By the time he pulled himself over the edge his own hands and feet were lacerated. He walked over to Raf, about to ask to see the injury when he realized that the boy's face was quite literally glowing.

Raf was standing as if frozen in place, staring in awe out the window. Jack turned to look and felt the breath leave him. Dawn was breaking over Iacon. From the east golden white light was spilling out of fiery orange clouds. The uppermost points of the Crystal Gardens were catching each and every photon and multiplying them off into a thousand different directions, a thousand different colors. As the clouds of the night dispersed, hundreds of buildings gleamed under a pale blue sky.

"Jack, are you okay?" Raf whispered softly.

Jack glanced down at the soft touch on his hand. He realized tears were running down his face.

"Yes, I, this." Jack took a deep breath and rubbed his face on the cleanest part of his sleeve. "I just wish I could share this with Arcee." He finally managed to get out. Raf smiled up at him and pulled out his cell phone. Jack laughed softly and did the same.

Several dozen snap shots later they were both scrambling back and forth across the kiosk surface. Raf had situated himself over a centrally located screen and was whispering instructions to the older boy. Jack recognized just enough of the old Cybertronian symbols to follow orders easily. Rafael however seemed to instinctively be able to query the machine and translate its responses. The only trouble was that the station was big, Cybertronian big. In order to pull up information that the intended data clerk could have accessed with a flick of its wrist, Raf had to hop around his screen like a one man game of twister while Jack sprinted from one end of the horseshoe to the other shoving switches and jumping on buttons.

But they were finally getting somewhere. Raf had determined the exact date, which meant something to him but not Jack, and that the building they were in was more of a planet wide security office than a library. Each station keep tabs, not on a physical sector of the planet exactly, but all regions serviced by certain main communications nodes. Raf had gotten very quiet when Jack had asked him what region this station observed.

"Kaon," Raf had said simply. Jack had shivered, then said,

"That's probably no coincidence; from what Arcee told me they probably have more than one station monitoring that place, several most likely. Now see if you can locate a source of pure water." It was partly to change to subject but mostly Jack was starting to feel very thirsty. Raf pointed across the station and said,

"All right Jack, go hit the switch marked 'materials' and I'll…Agggh! No!"

Jack felt a prickling feeling on the back of his neck as the screen inexplicably went black. The scrolling Cybertronian text was replaced with the image of a Cybertronian face. Jack took a deep breath and turned around. Standing over them with a curious but annoyed look on its faceplates was a large red and cobalt blue bot, with one finger on what Jack could only guess was a kill switch. Raf was still trying to bring the screen back to life. Jack gently but firmly placed a hand on the smaller boys head and twisted him around to see the bot.

"Uh, sorry?" Raf said nervously.

"Run." Jack said. Belatedly Jack realized he hadn't said which direction. He set off one way while Raf sprinted in the other. As soon as he realized this Jack slid to a stop and tried to double back towards the smaller boy. Just in time to see him gently scooped up by the new bot. Jack let out a horse shout and lunged at the massive hand holding Raf, not sure what he could do but not wanting to be separated. Before he could take two steps however he was roughly picked up from behind. As he cried out in pain a small part of his brain idly wondered if it was his creaking ribs of burning skin that was causing the pain across his back.

The silver and blue robot they had followed in was curiously examining him while causally crushing his ribcage. It said something to the red bot, who responded by holding out as hand palm up and frowning. The red and blue bot said something firmly and the silver bot shrugged and causally dropped Jack into his outstretched hand. The boy collapsed with a gasp into the warm surfaces of the servo. Four massive fingers and a thumb gently curled up to cup the human as the bot stared down at him. Despite his pain Jack searched the Cybertronian's face, and decided he liked what he saw. There was compassion as well as curiosity in the sky blue eyes and the mouth was smiling gently. The robot brought his hands together and Raf scampered over to his friend.

"Jack, are you okay." He asked franticly.

Jack nodded, still winded from the rough handling he had received. The Cybertronian holding them let out a series of noises, that were as strange to Jack as they were oddly comforting. Raf turned his attention to the bot and cocked his head to one side. The sounds were similar to the chirps and whistles Bee made but were deeper and for more complex. Jack had one gone to the Carson City Symphony with his mom as a child. He had snuck off behind stage at one point and heard the entire orchestra warming up their instruments at once. That was probably the closest thing he had ever heard to the red and blue bot's voice.

"What's he saying?" Jack whispered to Raf. The smaller boy looked back at him in confusion.

"I can't tell exactly. It's so different from Bee. But I think he's trying to be comforting, like he's not going to hurt us." Raf whispered back.

"Yeah," Jack said, "I kinda got that too." Both boys turned back to the bot who had fallen silent to listen to them.

The silver and blue bot asked a question. To which their protector responded by saying something and inclining his head toward the far back of the room. The other bot shrugged his sleek shoulders and smiled cheerfully at the boys, then waved to the bigger bot and strolled off down the row of kiosks, leaving a trail of disgruntled data bots behind. The red and blue bot stepped forward into the kiosk and began flicking switches and pressing buttons with his free hand. It made no sense to Jack but Raf watched raptly.

"He's accessing what we were," Raf said a little nervously, "Following our electronic footprints." Jack shifted uncomfortably. The word 'busted' ran through his mind. The bot shifted slightly and suddenly started. He lifted up one huge foot and stared in consternation at the dirty white smear on it. Jack remembered the half dissolved shoes.

"Uh, sorry?" he said with a weak grin as the bot arched one brow at them. The Cybertronian seemed to finish what it was doing at the station and stepped out of the kiosk. It carefully carried the boys down seemingly endless rows of stations manned by bots that didn't even seem to notice their passing.

They passed through a door, large even by Cybertronian standards and into a much smaller room. There was only space for their large red and blue protector, a Cybertronian sized desk, and the bot behind it. The surface of the desk was empty except for what looked for all the world like a book, only distinguished from a thousand like it on Earth by its unbelievable size. An tall, lanky, old Cybertronian sat behind the desk scratching away at the book with a massive stylus.

The bot carrying them let out a small noise and the old bot slowly looked up. His optics glowed gold in the dim room, highlighting is long thin face. Jack felt as if the bot was looking straight into his soul for a moment then the old Cybertronian's gaze shifted up to the bot carrying them. The boys held their breath.

'This must be what that kitten I brought home to Mom must have felt like.' Jack thought nervously.


	6. Chapter 6

Déjà vu 6

Separation

A Transformers Prime Fanfic

Raf clutched Jack's arm nervously as The old yellow and silver bot behind the desk stood to his full height. He looked inquisitively down at the boys and said something to the Cybertronian holding them. The two bots began a conversation that Jack couldn't understand a word of.

He stayed silent to let Rafael concentrate on the words flowing back and forth and focused on watching the reactions of the two participants. The younger red and blue bot obviously deferred to the older bot. Throughout the conversation Jack could see the respect in his optics. The older bot in turn radiated wisdom and quiet confidence. After they had spoken back and forth a few times the older bot sat back down at his desk and beckoned to the younger. The human saw a look of surprise flicker across the red and blue bots face but he obeyed without question and gently placed the boys on the desk.

The yellow bot seemed to forget them for a moment as he flipped through the giant book that was the only object on the desk. The light from his golden optics reflected off the boy's upturned faces and glimmered on the metallic pages of the book. Finally he chose a section and began to read. Raf got curious and tried to see what was on the pages but the old bot lightly shooed the human away. Jack rested a hand reassuringly on the smaller boys shoulder. Finally the ancient Cybertronian looked up and stared searchingly at the two humans. Jack could see surprise and disbelief written across his long faceplates. He sat up ramrod straight in his chair and pressed the palms of his hands together, lightly resting his "chin" on the tips of his fingers.

Finally he looked back at the red and blue bot and spoke. The younger Cybertronian seemed to protest but the yellow and silver bot was firm. The younger bot nodded his acquiescence and reached out for Jack. The human climbed up into his hand willingly, but when he turned to help Raf up the older bot imposed a hand between the two boys. Jack cried out in protest as the red and blue bot carried him away from his friend.

"Jack!" Raf called out franticly. The older boy caught one last glimpse of him before bot carrying him turned away. The yellow and silver bot's fingers were wrapped around the boy like a cage, Jack could see the fear in his brown eyes and it dug into his heart. He looked up at the face of the bot carrying him and wondered if he had badly misread him.

"Please! I don't know if you can understand me, but I need to get back to my friend," Jack said. The red and blue bot looked down on him with compassion in his optics and let out a quiet stream of soothing sound. Jack slumped back in the giant hand decided the only thing to do was wait for a chance to escape and find Raf again.

What followed were the longest hours of Jack's life. Back at the kiosk, the red and blue bot set Jack down and held his hand out over the boy, fingers straight palm down.

"Yeah, I get it, stay put," the human muttered, eyes already darting around and plotting the best path back to the smaller room. The bot leaned over him and smiled gently. He pointed at himself and let out a short but complicated burst of sound. Jack frowned. If that was the bot's Cybertronian name there was no way he'd be able to repeat it. But the bot pointed at itself again and repeated the sound expectantly. Jack sighed and decided to play along.

"Jack." He said, pointing at his chest. "Jack."

The tall bot tilted his head to one side, pointed a finger at the boy, and let out a short simple sound.

"Aaaarkkkk"

Jack smiled despite himself.

"Close enough," he said. He pointed at the bot and tried to come up with something approximating the complex, music like name it had given for itself. From the amused look on the bot's faceplates he was even further off then the bot had been with his. Jack tried again but this attempt ended in a coughing fit. The bot gently rested one broad fingertip on the boy's back and gave a worried inquiry. Jack shook his head and shuffled over to edge of the station nearest the window. From there he could keep an eye on both the doors they had originally entered through and the path to the back room. The red and blue bot began working his station.

Jack had no idea what he was doing, and at the moment he really didn't care. Thirst had dried out his throat. Hunger was gnawing at his stomach; he had quietly made certain Raf had gotten most of the jerky. He really had to go to the bathroom. Thin facial hair was beginning to grow out on his upper lip. Over and above all else he was worried about his friend. He had promised the smaller boy they would make it home. Now he wasn't even sure if he would see Raf again. Twice he tried to slip over the side of the kiosk, but each time the bot easily grabbed him and set him back down, firmly repeating the 'stay' gesture, Jack tried to doze off but the physical misery of his body prevented that.

Finally he got up and began hopping up and down to get the Cybertronian's attention. The bot looked at him. Jack began pointing frantically at the floor within the horseshoe shaped station. The bot seemed curious and gently set the human on the metal floor. Jack found the corner where he had stashed the remains of his shoes and turned his back to the bot. When everything was taken care of he climbed back up the kiosk himself, forgoing the proffered hand of the Cybertronian. Once he reached the top Jack glanced away from the bot in embarrassment. The bot tapped something into the station and a small rectangular robot rolled up and examined the organic deposit on the floor. There was a flash of flame from the little maintenance bot and all that was left was a pile of dust which it vacuumed up and rolled off with. Jack sighed with relief and sat down again.

The minuets stretched into one hour then two. Jack kept checking the time on his phone, then scolding himself for wasting battery juice for something so useless. Suddenly the red and blue bot glanced up in obvious surprise. Jack turned to see what he was looking at. The yellow and silver bot was standing beside the station holding Raf easily in one hand.

"Raf!" Jack gasped out, relief washing over him like a wave. The smaller boy seemed a bit dazed but none the worse for whatever he had experienced. Jack stumbled over to where the older Cybertronian's hand rested on the kiosk and helped the smaller boy down.

"What happened in there?" Jack asked.

Raf stared up at him with eyes that seemed to be focused on something far away. Jack felt a prickle of fear creep down his spine. He didn't think that the old bot meant them any harm, but what the Cybertronian would do in ignorance he had no idea.

"Rafael Esquivel," Jack asked firmly, as his face unconsciously shifted into a good imitation what his mother called her serious face, "What happened in there?"

Raf started and blinked p at Jack.

"He, he showed me the book." Raf whispered rapturously. "I saw… things, I. He wanted me to remember what I saw. That's what took so long. I tried to just take a picture with my phone but he wouldn't let me. I had to remember it."

"What was in the book?" Jack asked as worry for his friend's mental state warred with curiosity.

"Symbols. I couldn't read them, but I can remember them." Raf replied, he seemed to be coming back a little farther into reality with each word. "He said they were a message, that I would know who for when the time was right."

"So you translated the spoken language?" Jack asked eagerly.

"I, I guess I must have."Raf muttered and rubbed his eyes under his glasses. He leaned against Jack and shivered. Jack rested his arm across the smaller boy's shoulders and turned to look at the two bots. They were talking quietly together. The younger bot seemed to be disagreeing with something the older bot had suggested, but the yellow and silver bot was firm. Finally the older bot gestured toward the exit doors and walked back to his office. The red and blue bot nodded and appeared to go back to whatever task he was working on.

Jack frowned; they needed to find water soon. The bots had proven they meant no harm, but how much did they know about the needs of organics? After only a few minutes however Jack heard the kiosk power down. The red and blue bot leaned over them and introduced itself to Raf. The boy stepped out from under Jack's arm, smiled, and pointed at himself.

"Rafael Esquivel," he said.

"Raaffff Eskkall," attempted the bot. Raf laughed in delight. He scampered over to the one lit screen and tapped in one symbol. The bot stared down at it in surprise, then reached over the human and pulled up a glowing series of sigils.

"What is that?" Jack asked.

"His name," Raf replied. "I thought it would be easier than just calling him the red and blue bot. But it's in an archaic form of Cybertronian. Give me a second to translate it." Raf tilted his head to one side and rocked back on his heels. After awhile the bot looked at Jack curiously. Jack shrugged and hoped that meant the same thing on this planet as it did on Earth. Finally Raf shook his head and said,

"This doesn't quite make sense, but it is a very old form of the language."

"What doesn't make sense?" Jack asked.

"Well, the best I can translate is, 'One who is mighty at tracking down and acquiring his quarry, One who is peaceful,'."

"So, a peaceful hunter?" Jack mused, "Maybe not so much of a contradiction as it looks if he hunts down data."

"Yeah," Raf said with a frown, "but what do we call him? That's an awful lot to say."

"How about just Hunter?" Jack suggested. He turned to the bot watching them, pointed and said cautiously.

"Hunter?"

The bot nodded his consent. Hunter then pointed at Jack, raised his brows and let out two low, distinctive notes.

"I guess that's my name," Jack said as he rubbed the back of his neck. He nodded at Hunter and repeated the sounds as close as he could. The bot turned to point at Raf and let out two higher notes.

"Okay," Raf agreed and also repeated the sounds. Hunter gave a huge grin that lit up his entire face. Jack couldn't help but smile in return. The bot held out his hands and the boys climbed in. They moved out towards the exit door. At the door Hunter set the boys down on a convenient ledge and said something to them. Jack glanced at Raf.

"Um, something about us not being afraid of him," Raf squinted in thought, "and self change…Ah! I think he's warning us he's about to transform." Sure enough the red and blue bot began the swift change the boys had grown used to over the past months. When it was finished they were staring down at a sturdy but sleek vehicular form. It was slightly smaller than a semi . The top surfaces were armored and rounded to deflect the acid rain of Cybertron, but Jack could see that Hunter wasn't built to be out in the wet for long.

A compartment opened near the top and the boys scrambled to climb in. The space they were in was clearly made for cargo and not passengers. The boys braced their backs against the walls. Hunter's voice came from somewhere in front of them, and they started to move.

"He says to hold on and tell him if we are in any danger." Raf translated, and then "He's telling us where we're going. Hold on." Raf concentrated as they rocked back and forth in the dim compartment. "It was the other bot's idea. His name is…. 'the First of us is the Third of the…..'?"

"How about Geezer?" Jack suggested as the back of his head smacked into the wall, again. Raf shot him a surprised look. Jack winced. They were hungry, thirsty, tired, and stuck on a strange planet, he didn't need to make it worse by being snappy.

"Anyway," Raf continued, "Geezer, who is Hunter's boss, told him to take us to a place of healing."

"Ah, a Cybertronian hospital?" Jack asked, maybe they could get water there.

"Not exactly," Raf replied. "Remember I'm not too sure on my translations, but I think we're being taken to the vet."


	7. Chapter 7

A Trip to the Vet

Déjà vu 7

A Transformers Prime Fanfic

The bot they called Hunter carried them into a room of chaos. The first thing Jack noticed was the smell. Strange odors drifted through the spaces in Hunter's fingers as he clutched the two boys to his chestplate. Jack had been half asleep when they entered the building and he hadn't seen what had caused the red and blue bot's protective reaction. But his curiosity was soon overwhelmed by a fit of gagging. Only the fact that his stomach was completely empty saved him from vomiting. Beside him Rafael was in a similar state. Jack calmed himself enough to stroke Raf's back reassuringly and mutter,

"You okay?"

The smaller boy just gave him a miserable look and leaned into the comforting warmth of Hunter's chest plate. If they didn't get some water soon they would both be in bad shape. Jack pushed on one of the fingers holding them and Hunter reluctantly eased his hand open.

Jack stared around in shock. The bots all spoke of Cybertron before the war as a paradise. He could not believe there was a place this miserable in the capital city of Iacon. He glanced up at Hunter, and from the look of shock and horror on his faceplates, the bot couldn't believe it either. A massive warehouse space stretched out around them. Stacked, like boxcars at a train yard, were cage like containers with glowing bars. The cages contained creatures of every size and shape; organic, mechinoid, cyborg, and some Jack couldn't begin to identify. Despite the apparent chaos the human thought he saw a pattern. On one side were creatures that were injured; some lay with wounds held together by glowing webs, some oozed foul smelling puss, some let off sparks from ruptured circuitry, some simply lay lethargically as if they were waiting to die. On the other side, separated by some kind of shimmering forcefield were healthy animals. They tended to have more mechanical parts, as if organic/mechanical hybridization were a big part of the treatment here. Several questionable looking Cybertronians held massive fanged monstrosities on chains.

Hunter slowly turned around, giving Jack a full sweep of the scene. The red and blue bot finally walked over to a scrawny jet black bot behind a counter and said something. The black bot replied without looking up and waved over to where several Cybertronians were holding an assortment of organic creatures about the same size as the two humans. Hunter tried to protest, but the receptionist bot only looked up at him and snarled something. The red and blue bot seemed mildly shocked but tried again to say something. The black bot gave a forceful, three servo gesture with one hand and went back to ignoring them.

Hunter walked over to the indicated section cautiously. An oily blue Cybertronian held three slouching bipeds on chains. They had scaly green skin and fierce fangs. A smallish green Cybertronian held onto a scrap of cable with what appeared to be a giant shag carpet on one end. A slim red fembot clutched what appeared to be a writhing mass of purple foliage to her chestplates nervously.

All three Cybertronians eyed Hunter as he carried his two charges into their circle. The way the blue bot eyed the human made Jack glad that Raf was still safely tucked away in Hunter's hand. Smiling nervously the red fembot appeared to introduce herself. Hunter responded with his warm smile and she relaxed visibly. There was a shuffling and a grunt and the shag carpet resolved itself into a massive brown furred beast beside its green master. The bot waved cheerfully at Hunter and reached down to stroke his growling pet. Jack could see a gash on the side of the furry beast.

The two Cybertronians struck up a conversation immediately. Raf slowly peeked his head out from behind Hunter's fingers and murmured to Jack,

"They just introduced themselves and the green bot is giving pet care advice to Hunter."

Jack looked at his friend and felt his stomach tighten. Raf's eyes were sunken into his head, his lips were cracked and dry, and there were dark circles under his eyes. The older boy glanced up at the bot holding them and opened his mouth. He stopped and shook his head. Even if he could make himself understood, Hunter was already doing everything he could for the humans. All they could do now was wait. Jack's attention was drawn back to Raf as the smaller boy started coughing. Hunter stopped talking with the green bot and cradled his hands together to let Jack closer to Raf. Without even a glass of water to give the smaller boy Jack could only rub his back and assure him they were going to be fine.

It wasn't until Hunter set them down on a nearby crate that Jack realized that the bot was conversing with the green Cybertronian again. Jack held onto the still coughing Raf and watched nervously as the green bot patted the crate top. With surprising agility for a creature so large, and injured, the shag carpet leapt up on the crate across from the boys. Jack let out a shout and lunged in front of Raf as the creature charged at them. Remembering the training he'd received about bears, Jack tried to make himself as large as possible and shouted at the animal. For a split second his only thought was that the beast was much larger up close, and then it slammed into him.

It took the boy several seconds to register that he wasn't being messily torn limb from limb as he'd expected. Two huge paws rested half on either side of his chest and a warm moist snout was alternately sniffing his face and licking it with a rough, wet tong. The pain across his back was severe from the burns pressing into the hard metal of the crate, but the rough paws were remarkably gentle. He heard laughter and realized that at some point Raf had stopped coughing.

"Hey, get off of him boy. No! Hee, ha, no, don't lick me. Come on get off Jack." Raf was trying to move the creature. Finally Jack felt the pressure life off his chest and he rolled into a kneeling position. Now he got a good look at the beast. It was easily three times the size of a grizzly bear with fangs that would put any saber toothed cat to shame. Its brown fur floated around round black eyes like a cloud. Right now it was studiously trying to clean Raf's face with a long purple tong. Hunter looked on with a nervous smile while the green bot smiled down proudly as they talked. Jack staggered up and walked cautiously over to the beast. It turned to him and went down into a crouch. Jack tensed but Raf came up to him smiling.

"He just wants to play," the smaller boy explained. "The green bot, his name is Gasket by the way, told Hunter that he could cheer us up while we waited our turn. Isn't he neat?"

Jack wasn't sure whether Raf meant the Cybertronian or his pet but he nodded anyway and forced a smile. The creature was sniffing him up and down now. The boy tentatively reached up and scratched behind the animal's huge ear. It let out a grunt of pure pleasure and threw itself at his feet. Jack smiled and put both hands to the task while Raf took the other side. The shaggy beast was soon thumping its back foot ecstatically and letting out a series of grunts and grumblings.

The red fembot had already disappeared, Jack noticed once the beast had settled down. The slinky blue bot was no longer holding the green skinned organics, but was watching Jack with some interest. Jack felt the hair on the back of his neck rise at that. Just then a tall, scrawny grey Cybertronian walked up and addressed Gasket. The bot looked down at the boys playing with his pet and then up at Hunter. He shook his head and pointed at the red and blue bot while saying something. The grey bot glanced at Hunter with a question on its faceplates. Hunter started to say something but Gasket scooped up the boys and placed them in his hands. Then the green bot gave Hunter a shove in the grey bot's direction.

It took a few seconds for Jack to right himself in Hunter's hands. When he did he caught one last glimpse of Gasket with the friendly beast sitting by his side. Then Hunter rounded a corner and the human lost sight of the pair. Jack turned and blinked. Plain white room, flat table at waist height, various medical instruments spread about neatly, it was all so normal and veterinary like Jack was shocked. Then it occurred to him that maybe his definition of 'normal' had been stretched a bit too far recently. Hunter gently placed the boys on the table and turned as a sturdy white Cybertronian walked into the room.

Despite being only slightly shorter, and much wider, than Hunter this bot was defiantly feminine. She strolled up to the boys and gave them a quick once over. Hunter was trying to talk to her, but she only grunted in reply and reached into a nearby container. She pulled our two red pellets and set them in a space in the wall. She tapped out a command into the adjacent control panel and the delicious sound of running water filled the room. Both boys watched fascinated as a cascade of water fell over the pellets and they began to swell. They scooted closer to the edge of the table nearest the water and stared fixedly at it. After what seemed like an eternity to the boys the white fembot turned off the water and carried the pellets over to the humans. She set the things down in front of the eager boys and stepped back.

Jack hefted one of the red containers. In the bot's hand it had looked small, but it held at least a gallon of water. Jack couldn't figure out how they were supposed to get it out though. He glanced up at the Cybertronians who were talking now, and then over at Raf. The smaller boy was sitting cross-legged on the table with the container on his lap, face buried in one end. He lifted his head long enough to wipe his mouth on his sleeve and say to Jack,

"It's pure distilled water. I know the taste. It's okay."

"Yeah, but how do I get at it?" Jack asked in confusion.

"Oh, it's like a sponge, just chew on one end and the water comes up." Raf replied and demonstrated for his friend. Jack sat down and began chewing on to small protuberance at the end of the pellet. Delicious, life giving water began to seep into this mouth. It struck Jack that he had never really been thirsty before now. A green light flashed over them, from the white bot's scanner, Jack realized. He began squeezing the container and more came out. It came slowly. After a few minutes of gulping down the liquid the human realized that that was probably a design feature. He sat back and looked over at Raf.

"We should probably go easy on this for now," he said. "We haven't had anything to drink in a while and too much at once could upset our stomachs."

Raf nodded reluctantly. His water sponge had shrunk by at least a third. Jack stood up and stretched. The white bot and Hunter were still talking. She led him over to a cabinet and began pulling things out of it. Jack didn't recognize any of the items but by the time she was done Hunter had quite a pile. Then the vet bot turned and saw that the humans were done drinking. She selected two shallow containers from the pile and walked over to a dispenser set into the wall. A thick black ooze seeped out into the dishes. She handed them to Hunter who eagerly set them in front of the boys. The red and blue bot said something gently.

"Um, Jack I think that's our food," Raf said eyeing the mess.

"I was kind of afraid of that," Jack replied.

"I, don't think I'm that hungry yet," the smaller boy whispered edging away from what looked like crude oil. Jack firmly gripped the smaller boys shoulder and steered him towards the dishes.

"We need the nutrients Raf. It may look nasty, but this bot obviously has experience with organics. We have both lost weight already. We can't afford to lose more, every ounce we drop will be far more difficult to get back. Now come on, it doesn't smell bad." Jack was right, the goo gave off a strange but not unpleasant odor. He led by example and dipped a finger into the substance while Hunter looked on eagerly. The food tasted, well, pretty much the way Jack expected it too; a gritty mass of sterile organic matter, bark dust and candle wax maybe. The taste buds of an American teenager warred with the gnawing hunger in his gut for a moment, then the survival instinct kicked in and killed the gag reflex. He scooped a few double finger loads of the stuff into his mouth and smiled down at Raf.

"See? Not too bad."

Raf gingerly tried the concoction, and nearly gagged, but he gamely shoveled it down. With every swallow the goo got easier to take until finally Jack called a stop to the food as well, on the grounds that they needed to be gentle with their stomachs. Raf seemed much more eager to agree than over the water. They washed down the goop with a few mouthfuls of the water. Immediate needs satisfied Jack looked up at Hunter.

To his surprise the white bot was playing a blue scanning beam over the bot's chestplates, explaining as she did.

"She's helping Hunter reformat his cargo compartment to carry us more safely." Raf explained.

"Great," Jack said, "no more head bumps. By the way, did you get her name?"

"Ah, no. I don't think she told Hunter."

When she was done the white bot waved towards the boys and said something to Hunter. The red and blue bot nodded and held out a hand to the boys.

"She's going to give us a proper medical exam now." Raf said, a little nervously. "She wants Hunter to hold whichever one of us she's not working on so we don't make trouble."

"All right, I'll go first." Jack said as he gently pushed Raf towards Hunter. The smaller boy climbed into the bot's hand. This time Hunter reached over and carefully began stroking the boys back with one finger. Raf smiled up and the bot and leaned into the petting. It might be a little silly but any friendly gesture was welcome.

Jack had automatically taken off his shirt for the exam, to the surprised look of Hunter. Habits from dozens of doctors' visits were strong. But the white bot didn't seem to care. She ran several scan lights over the human, each of which left a projection of his internal organs on the wall. The white bot studied them for a moment then selected a long thin device from the counter. She lightly tapped one end against Jack's neck and he collapsed on the countertop. A strange tingle spread over his limbs. He could breathe and blink his eyes but that was about it. He heard Raf's worried cry, heard Hunter comforting the boy, vaguely felt something playing over his back and shoulders. Panic threatened to overwhelm him, but the human firmly told himself that it was only logical for the Cybertronian to use a general anesthetic for a medical procedure.

His perspective shifted as he was placed in Hunter's hand. The red and blue bot looked worriedly down at him and spoke soothingly. 'Wish I could understand him,' Jack thought idly. Whatever the white bot had used on him was affecting his ability to think. Finally the enforced relaxation faded into blissful sleep.


	8. Chapter 8

Tattoos

Déjà Vu 8

A Transformers Prime Fanfic

Itching. Jack let out a groan and writhed under his constraints. There was an insane burning itch crawling over his back and shoulders. He tried to ignore it and go back to sleep, he was so tired. A string of beeps and clicks finally broke through the haze in his brain. Was something wrong with his alarm clock? Wait, that was wrong, he was supposed to be out in the desert…except the grounbridge malfunction. Jack came fully awake with a start and shoved himself up into a kneeling position. His eyes slowly focused. Optimus Prime was standing there, for a moment relief washed over him, then his vision and mind cleared. The red and blue Cybertronian resolved into Hunter, busily at work on his station. He glanced down at the boy and for a moment that incredibly warm smile lit up his faceplates. He nodded slightly at the human and went back to work. Jack slumped in disappointment and the blanket slipped off his bare back. Blanket, where was his shirt?

The human looked at the silvery NASA like material in confusion. Then his eyes fell on Rafael. The smaller boy was sleeping soundly, curled up in a ball with his half of the massive blanket twisted around him. He looked much better already. There were still dark circles under his eyes, but his face was filling out and his breathing was steady and even. Jack reached over and rested a hand on Raf's back, just to feel the breath rising and falling in his lungs. A content smile spread across the human's face, then slipped.

There was an odd black mark on Raf's cheek, poking out from under the blanket. Jack frowned and gently pulled back the silvery material. A shiny metallic black tattoo started at the smaller boy's right cheekbone and coiled out of sight under his shirt. Jack glanced down at himself. The same kind of tattoo was wrapped around his right shoulder and side and, he presumed, his back. One small portion of his brain piped up that it was only logical for a sentient race to mark their pets in a city this large. A slightly larger part of his brain was seething with outrage at being branded like a range bull, but mostly…

"I have a tattoo. Mom is going to kill me. No she'll only half kill me. Then she'll turn me over to Mrs. Esquivle to finish the job." Jack looked up at Hunter and wondered if he could convince the bot to just squish him now. With a jerk he shook his head. Clearly stuff had happened while he was out. But they were back in the library, under Hunter's protection. Raf was safe for now.

The best thing to do would be to take care of his pressing physical needs and hoped that would clear his mind. He walked closer to the red and blue bot and began to hop up and down to get his attention. Hunter glanced at him then held out a hand. Jack climbed in. Instead of placing the human immediately on the floor though, the bot reached down and pulled out a container. It was about the same size as a five gallon bucket, but squatter. He set it beside Jack in his massive hand and pointed into the container. Jack nodded.

"Okay so I'm guessing that this is our port-a-potty. Right no more messes on the floor for the janitor bots to clean up."

Even if it resembled just a plain bucket, the device had a mechanism for automatic incineration of the organic waste, Jack discovered once Hunter had set him down.

"Clever that," he said to himself. Inside the kiosk was the pile of stuff Hunter had acquired from the vet. Jack poked through it. In addition to the bucket there was a package of extra water pellets, two collars, two leashes, several hard black cubes marked 'consumption', and a host of strange oddities that Jack couldn't begin to guess the use for. He smiled to himself. Probably over priced junk the vet had unloaded on Hunter by convincing him the humans 'needed' it. Jack paused and frowned, they already owed the red and blue bot big time. He didn't pretend to know how the Cybertronian economy worked but that shady vet clinic screamed 'Black Market'. It couldn't be too different from Earth economics. He truly hoped there was something they could do to repay the bot for his time and trouble, but he didn't see what.

Jack began fiddling with one of the food cubes. It was about the size of a garden brick and about the same consistency. Hunter reached down a hand. The boy handed the brick over. The bot pointed to one of the dishes and said something. Jack held up the dish and Hunter carefully crushed the brick between two fingers. The bits fell into the dish and began to ooze liquid. Soon the stuff was the same consistency as the goo at the vets. Jack grabbed a full water container in one arm and balanced the dish in the other then pointed up.

"Lift me up, please?"

Hunter reached down and carefully set the boy on the kiosk surface by the still sleeping Raf. Jack drank some water and started in on the goop food. He was trying very hard to ignore the maddening itching on his back. By now he had realized that it was probably the healing acid burns, but he doubted the strange tattoo helped matters any. He tried to think, to plan. They needed to get back to the lab. With an ally like Hunter Jack felt confident in facing the strange red and white bot in the lab. The shouldn't have too much trouble finding the right lab once they got to the proper floor, dang it itched, but how to find the floor? Raf would no doubt be better at that sort of thing than he was, ohhh his back burned.

It was taking every ounce of will power Jack had not to scratch the healing skin. He was letting out little grunts and wriggling his shoulders, which seemed to attract Hunters attention. The bot reached into the pile of stuff and pulled out a syringe, a very large syringe. Jack eyed the instrument a little nervously. Hunter broke the tip off and beckoned to Jack. Hesitantly the human climbed into his hand. The bot positioned the syringe over the human's shoulders. Out of the end came a clear blue salve. A double fistful landed square on Jack's back. The boy let out a gasp. For a moment an intense burning sensation rippled out across Jack's shoulders. Then a wave of icy cold followed. Hunter took one finger and began to carefully spread the salve across the human's skin. But even the bots gentlest touch hurt. Jack quickly writhed out of Hunters grasp shaking his head.

"Here, let me do it." Raf's voice offered. Jack glanced down in surprise. The blanket was neatly folded and Raf was standing behind him smiling. The older boy nodded and knelt down so Raf could reach easer. It didn't take long for the smaller boy to massage the salve gently into the burned areas on Jack's back. When he was finished he handed Jack his shirt.

"There's food and water over there." Jack said as he put it on.

"Thanks, I'm hungry enough to even eat that gloop," Raf replied heading over to the tray.

"Gloop, huh?" Jack said sitting down beside his friend as he dug into the oily substance, "Sounds like a good name to me. So what happened after I went out at the vet?"

"Oh, she ran all these lights over you. Then soaked you in this blue glowing liquid. After that she put that tattoo one you. I tried to object, so did Hunter. But she was firm it was necessary. I'm pretty sure it's your Cybertronian name, Hunter's name, and his contact information. Also I think it acts as a tracking device in case we get lost. Then she wanted to do me so I took of my shirt so it wouldn't get ruined. After she put me out, I woke up here."

Jack sighed and slumped against the kiosk. Pets they were after all. The boys sat in silence for a minute while Raf ate. The burning had stopped on Jacks shoulders. When Raf was done the smaller boy began to look around nervously. Jack guessed what was on his mind and explained about the bucket. Raf nodded in relief and tried to climb down the side of the kiosk. Hunter gently stopped him and set him on the floor. When Raf tried to climb back up the bot did the same thing.

"I guess he doesn't want us to mess up the positions on those levers." The smaller boy said after Hunter had set him by Jack.

"Or he doesn't want us hurting ourselves again." Jack replied.

"Hey Jack? Have you been thinking about what we should be doing now?" Raf asked finally.

"Yes," Jack nodded, "We need to get back to that lab. I figure once Hunter's shift is over, you can ask him to take us across the street. Once we find the right lab in that building you can talk to that bot about reversing whatever process brought us here." Jack looked expectantly at Raf, waiting for the boy to give his own ideas and details to the plan. To his surprise the smaller boy shook his head.

"No, I mean about warning Cybertron."

"What?" Jack asked confused.

"Jack there is a war coming, and soon, if I translated that date right. Megatron is probably plotting his first attacks right now. Innocent bots are going to start dying. But maybe if we can warn the current Prime, I think his name is supposed to be Sentinel, they can do something about it." Rafael gestured around them. "I mean look at all this. We're in the one place on Cybertron that has easy access to all the others. Maybe we were sent here for a reason. Geezer probably has connections." Raf stumbled to a halt, when he saw the look on Jack's face.

"Don't you agree, Jack?" he asked confused.

Jack sat back and thought about what his friend had said. Implications danced through his mind; time paradoxes, death, life, responsibility. He weighed his next words carefully.

"Rafael, do you know who Billy Mitchell was?"

"The WWII hero?" Raf asked confused.

"Well he was actually a WWI pilot, one of the first. He pioneered many of the greatest feats in aviation. He was a decorated war hero and a respected officer. After the first war he came out and predicted the second. While the rest of the world was rejoicing that the so called 'war to end all wars' was over he was pushing for increased Pacific defenses. He correctly predicted who we would fight, when they would attack, and where they would strike."

"So, what does that have to do with us?" Asked Raf in confusion.

"What do you think they did to him?"

"Uh, gave him medals and stuff?"

"They court marshaled him." Jack sat up and looked directly into Raf's eyes. "Nobody wanted to believe another war was coming. So nobody did, they labeled a decorated general a traitor. It wasn't until after he was dead that they exonerated him."

Raf was quiet for a few moments, staring down into the now empty tray.

"So we shouldn't do anything, because who would believe two little aliens anyway?"

"No. Putting all the weird stuff like time paradoxes aside, I think we can only do what right by what is right in front of us. If that makes any sense." Jack rubbed the back of his neck. "I just mean we should be very careful who we tell what. Even if Geezer and hunter did believe us and had the connections, I think it's unlikely that the security forces on this planet would move against someone who is as powerful as Megatron is supposed to be right now, on the word of a couple of offworld organics."

"So what do we do?"

"I don't know Raf. If you have any ideas please share them."

"Optimus." Raf murmured.

"What?" Jack asked.

"Remember? Optimus called Megatron brother. At the start of the conflict they were allies. They fought together. From the date they haven't even met yet." Raf clarified.

"So, it wasn't Megatron who started the war?" Jack asked.

"Maybe. Bee wasn't really clear on that. It might have been him plotting behind Optimus's back the entire time, or not. But they were friends at first."

"Okay, there's a place to start. We know, sort of, how Optimus reacts to stuff. If we can get him a message warning about Megatron, well it's a place to start anyway." Jack frowned in thought. The two boys put their heads together and began plotting how to get a message to someone who didn't technically exist yet. Every so often Jack called a break to discuss plans to get home. The boys ate when they got hungry and napped when they got tired. Jack seemed to remember that the Cybertronian day was longer than an earth day. Finally he saw light change outside. Hunter shut down his station and said something to Raf. 'I guess he's figured out who the smart one is,' Jack thought with a smile.

"His shift is over and he needs to meet someone, 'One Who is Easy Going and Fun Loving'. So we need to pack up as much food and water as we think we'll need for, um, I can't translate time too well, probably several hours."

Jack nodded at the smaller boy and climbed into Hunter's outstretched hand. From the pile on the floor he selected two gloop bricks, one dish, two empty water containers, and a smaller version of the blanket. He wrapped all the stuff in the blanket and secured it.

"Jack?" Raf asked once they had secured themselves in the new padding and harnesses in Hunter's cargo hold and were zooming down the street.

"Yes Raf?"

"When Hunter talks to me. I get the feeling he treats me as an equal. Maybe younger and in need of protection, but I think he knows we're sentient."

"Yes, I get that sense too," Jack replied.

"So why did he have us branded like animals?" Raf asked. There was a touch of hurt in his voice. Jack was quiet for a moment in the near darkness of the hold.

"Raf, I think we've all been thinking of Cybertron before the war as a paradise. That's how the bots describe it to us. Which is natural I suppose. It was their home and no matter how much we try to make them feel welcome, Earth will never truly replace it. So they're a little nostalgic. But the level of evil that Megatron will become, the number of Cybertronians that will support him, that doesn't come out of nowhere. Just like Germany had real grievances at the start of WWII. I'm just guessing but there is probably corruption in the official channels. In order to get us care as sentients we'd probably have to be turned over to some bureaucrat, or worse. Geezer looks like a smart old bot. He probably told Hunter to take us to a 'backalley' vet so we could avoid that."

"I guess that makes sense," Raf said. Jack could hear the disappointment in his voice. Pretty illusions never break painlessly. To change the subject Jack asked,

"So where are we going?"

"Hunter said something about fighting for good health with informal connotations. I think he meant martial arts practice with a friend." Raf replied.

"Cool, we'll get to see him in action."Jack said. "That might be interesting."


	9. Chapter 9

Fun and games

Déjà vu 9

A Transformers Prime Fanfic

A cacophony of noise greeted the boys when Hunter let them out of the cargo hold. Raf gripped Jack's arm in fear. The older boy returned the grip reassuringly, hoping his friend couldn't see through his confidence.

"It's okay Raf. We're just in a Cybertronian dojo, remember?"

"Yes," the smaller boy whispered.

A room large even by Cybertronian standards, but still smaller than the library and the vet warehouse, sloped away from the entrance where Hunter stood holding the boys. He elevated his hands so they could get a good look. Dozens of Cybertronians were sparring; servos thudded into chestplates, blades sliced through the air only to clash harmlessly on armor or energy shields, the thumping whine of plasma blasts could be heard from further off, flashes of light erupted from the same direction. It reminded the boys far too much of the battles they'd witnessed. However Raf suddenly brightened.

"Jack! I know where we are!" He cried out eagerly.

"Where?" asked Jack, surprised at the smaller boys turn of mood but pleased the he no longer seemed afraid.

"The Iacon Great Hall of Warriors, I mean one of them at least. Bee told me all about it. They are a series of gyms, basically, where all the inhabitants of Iacon could come to practice their warrior skills. The defense forces recruited here." Raf was scrambling from one side of the bemused Hunter's hands to the other, trying to see everything.

"So, Bumblebee trained here?" Jack asked.

"Well, no. They were all destroyed or shut down before he was experienced enough. But Optimus Prime did."

Jack glanced around in surprise, half expecting to see the noble Cybertronian striding up to them. He shook his head and reminded himself that "Optimus Prime" didn't exist yet, wouldn't until after the war started. Raf had his phone out and was snapping pictures.

Suddenly a familiar voice chimed up behind them. Hunter turned and greeted the silver and blue bot from the library. Jack took a moment to be surprised that he was able to recognize different voices now and then began studying the bot carefully. He had been a little rough with Jack when they'd met previously, but that was probably from ignorance. Hunter and the bot seemed to be good friends from the way they interacted. Jack glanced over at Raf and called out.

"Hey can I get a translation here?"

The smaller boy reluctantly pulled himself away from the scenes around him and focused on what the two Cybertronians were talking about.

"Well Hunter is telling his friend about our trip to the vet. The other bot is … surprised he took us there… the place has a reputation for servicing creatures that, um, fighting, profit, something." Raf went quiet for a minute and listened intently to Hunter's response.

"You were right Jack. Geezer told him to take us there so we wouldn't be confiscated/arrested by the security forces for being um… illegal aliens I guess. The other bot says too bad about the markings, they're permanent."

Jack's stomach gave a little lurch and Raf went a bit pale. The boys glanced at each other worriedly.

"Ah, go on." Jack urged Rafael. Anything to keep his mind off what he was going to tell his Mom.

"Um they're discussing how they're going to manage their sparring with us here. The other bot, says he'll take care of it and get a …. better/more acceptable station."

At this point the silver and blue bot strolled off toward what appeared to be the main desk. Hunter glanced down at the boy's and gave the chirps that were Raf's name.

"What? Oh okay sure." Raf turned to Jack.

"He wants to know if we would be okay with riding on his shoulders so his hands are free."

"Sounds okay to me," Jack said. He really didn't have much experience with it but Raf rode on Bumblebee's shoulder all the time. Hunter lifted his hands to his shoulders and the boys climbed on. The balancing took a little getting used to, but there were plenty of hand holds.

"So what should we call the other bot?" Raf asked when they spotted the blue and silver Cybertronian strolling back. Jack considered for a moment.

"You said his name is something about having fun?"

"Yes. That's what Hunter said. Also there were connotations of easy going."

Jack stared at his friend for a moment. So far he had just been accepting the smaller boy's ability to translate the language. Now that he thought about it though, he shook his head, best not to think about it until they were home.

"Fun and easy going? So how about Cool." Jack suggested.

Raf laughed as the swayed with Hunter's steps.

"Okay, so he's Cool. If you're cool with it." Jack quipped; it was good to hear his friend laugh.

The two bots walked into what looked like a very large cubicle. Hunter set the boys down on a shelf and handed them their stuff. He and Cool walked to either side of a large circle on the floor and faced each other. They stood ramrod straight for a moment, then exploded into action. The boys watched fascinated.

The bots were constant movement. As they flowed back and forth across the circle arms turned to blades, feet to hooks, hands to shields. Though Cool was markedly smaller that Hunter, he seemed to be making up for his smaller mass with greater speed and skill. Hunter had led off with a straight right hook. Cool had easily dodged the blow, moved up close to the larger bot, grabbed his extended arm and tried to throw Hunter out of the circle. Hunter pulled back and used his considerable weight to stabilize himself and cut up toward Cool's neck with and energon arm blade, only to be blocked by a glowing blue sheild. After that Jack lost track of the details and simply let himself get caught up in the flow.

There was something beautiful about what they were seeing. There was a grace, a skill, innocence to the flowing movements. There was something familiar and comforting. Jack had seen more Cybertronian battles than he ever wanted to. But those were different. There was a brutality and desperation to how the Autobots fought the Decpticons, born of the knowledge that loss meant suffering and death for loved ones. What he was watching now was a dance that celebrated life.

Hunter was the first to be thrown out of the circle. Jack was torn between the urge to cheer Cool's amazing move, and sympathies with Hunter's loss. But when he saw the look on the red and blue bot's face he decided to cheer. There was a living joy in those sky blue optics. Jack didn't need Raf's help to translate the sounds coming from the bots. It was pure Cybertronian laughter, unfiltered by the need to translate for the humans it was still a joyous sound.

Both boys were disappointed when the session ended. Jack had lost track of time but suddenly realized he was hungry. But before he could have Hunter break up another cube the bot scooped the boy's up and they were headed for the door. Outside it was raining again. Hunter turned and went to another door. This one opened into a tunnel. Hunter handed the boys over to Cool for a moment while he transformed. With comically exaggerated care the silver and blue bot placed them in the hold with a wink at Jack. The boys buckled into their harnesses and felt Hunter take off.

It was dark and noisy when Hunter opened the hold again. The boys climbed out into Cool's waiting hands while the other bot transformed. They were in a crowded room. Booths lined the walls and round tables crowded the floor. There was no overhead lighting. Garish colors flashed from various locations and hundreds of pairs of optics of every shape and color glowed out of the sooty air. Thos at tables were drinking various colored liquids. Jack didn't even know bots could drink. He had only ever seen the Autobots take energon intravenously. It looked like a questionable bar to Jack, the kind where fights that end badly start in movies.

Hunter wasn't the largest bot in the room, but he was still larger than most. Jack decided that was a good thing when he caught the looks some of the other patrons were throwing their way. A large, bulky grey bot strode up snarling something at Hunter and gesturing at the boys. Cool quickly stepped between the two and began smoothly talking to the cranky bot. The silver and blue Cybertronian threw an arm over the bot's shoulders and led him off into the crowd. Hunter shouted something at his retreating back.

"Ah, Raf?" Jack asked as they Rode hunters broad shoulders through the crowd.

"I think that was the proprietor. He didn't like them bringing us in here. He used a lot of words, well, I don't think nice bots like Arcee or Bee use those kind of words," Raf blushed. "But Cool was convincing him we were well trained and housebroken and Hunter was going to buy stuff for us so it was okay."

Jack winced slightly. Water might run pretty expensive at a bar where it was almost never ordered. Yet another thing they owed Hunter for. The red and blue bot found an empty corner booth to his liking and slid in. He patted the table top and the boys scampered down. A compartment in the bot's chest opened and he pulled out the bundle of the boy's stuff and handed it to Jack while saying something.

"He says we must be hungry by now. So get out the gloop bricks and he'll break it up for us." Raf translated eagerly.

Perspective was a funny thing, Jack thought as he undid the bundle. Seventy two hours ago neither of the boys would have even identified the gloop as edible, now they were both craving it. By the time Cool arrived with two giant bottles of something that glowed very pink and a bucket of water the boys were halfway through the dish of gloop. They eagerly shoved the sponge pellets into the water and drank. Hunter and Cool sipped their drinks and chatted. Raf translated a bit of it for Jack but most was about the bots' work and either meaningless or boring to the boys.

When they were finished they just sat cross-legged on the table and watched the bots. Hunter was laughing at something Cool had said. Raf had translated the joke but it made no sense to the boys. Jack studied the red and blue bots face closely. There was a warmth and kindness there, patience and understanding, and a free spirited joy Jack had never seen in any of the Autobots. Was that the result of the endless war? The death of joy as well as countless lives? Jacks mind drifted to Arcee. Even when she smiled there was always pain hiding in her optics. Something Jack had never really identified until he had met Hunter. What might his partner be like without that pain?

Cool finally noticed the humans watching them and pointed it out to Hunter, He grinned at the boys and ran his servos over a panel set into the table. Both human jumped up and shouted as the table came alive with glowing objects. Jack lunged to one side as a determined coil rolled by him.

"Ha, ha, it's okay Jack. They're just holograms." Raf called out joyously as he ran through a moping sphere. Cool was saying something to the smaller boy. Raf nodded and ran to the center of the table where Cybertronian symbols marched defiantly. He began pushing and pulling at the symbols and to Jack's surprise they moved in response. Cool leaned over to read what Raf had arranged and nodded. He hit a few more buttons and the shapes all disappeared except for several basketball sized cubes.

"Okay so it's like this." Raf explained to Jack. "It's a puzzle game. You have to arrange the 3D shapes to make things. That one in the center? That's the guide image. I asked Cool to put it on the easiest setting so we could learn how to use it."

Jack nodded. Part of him was crying out that this was a waste of time. They should be trying to get back. But he looked down at Raf's happy face. It would probably be best to start fresh in the morning anyway. He walked over to one of the cubes.

"So a base layer of nine first?"

"Maybe we should start from the top." Raf corrected him. "That way the base layers won't get in the way."

Jack pushed at the cube in front of him and felt a slight tingle, but it moved. Soon they had the cube completed. The table chimed happily. Under Raf's guidance they worked through several more complex shapes. Then Cool suggested they try teams. The silver and blue bot snagged Raf as he said this. Jack glanced up at Hunter and the bot grinned down at him. The humans ran wildly across the table shoving yellow coils, pink cubes, and euchre pointy things into place. There was no doubt that Raf and Cool were dominating the game. Cool's reaction time easily trumped Hunter's and Jack had no idea how Raf figured out the complex shapes so fast. The smaller boy's explanation that it was just math after all only served to remind Jack of a certain neglected science project and the GPA that was probably dying with the algae. Finally however Jack shoved an olive ellipse into place on a spaceship diagram and the table chimed in their favor.

"Yes! Booyah!" Jack shouted. "Fist bump!" He called up to Hunter. The bot tilted his head to one side and stared at Jack in confusion. The boy demonstrated with one arm. Hunter carefully formed a fist and held it out to the human. Jack thumped his fist into the bot's and repeated,

"Booyah!"

The bot grinned at the human and rumbled out. "Boooooorrrryyyaarrrrghhh!"

Jack and Raf broke out laughing at that.

Later, back at the kiosk in the library Raf forced himself to stay awake just long enough to type out a request for Hunter to take them across the street next time his shift was over. The bot agreed and promised to reschedule his plans with Cool. Jack and Raf curled up in the blanket. Just as Jack was about doze off Raf cleared his throat.

"Um, Jack?"

"Can we sleep back to back. I…." the smaller boy stopped talking, but Jack had heard the loneliness in his voice.

"Oh good idea," Jack said. "I don't think this blanket really captures enough body heat." He invented on the fly, suspecting that Raf was afraid to be seen as a 'baby'. He felt the smaller boy snuggle closer to him. It was comforting to know that another human being was close, he thought as he drifted off to sleep.


	10. Chapter 10

Kidnapped

Déjà Vu 10

A Transformers Prime Fanfic

Jack rolled up two bricks of gloop into the bundle he was making. Raf was busy with Hunter figuring out the best floors of the building across the street to start their search in. Hunter bent over a projection of the building while Raf was using the time it'd taken them to climb down, the angle of the light, and about a dozen other factor's to narrow the search. Jack hauled over the bundle and sat down by Raf.

"Hey Raf, can you put some more of the lotion on my burns?" Jack asked. The itching was getting better but it was still uncomfortable if he went to long between applications. The smaller boy nodded and made a syringe gesture to Hunter. The bot pulled out the blue lotion and dropped some into Raf's hands.

"We have it narrowed down to five floors!" Raf said happily as he massaged in the ointment. "And since the alcove we climbed out of had a full length window that narrows the search area in the Z plane. Hunter says we should be able to find the lab in one off shift of searching, two at most." Jack nodded. They'd been on Cybertron for over four earth days now. If they stayed much longer his mom was going to have a hard time covering with Mrs. Esquivle. As long as they were within the time frame of the camping trip, they were free and clear.

As soon as Raf was done. Hunter shut down his station and took the boys out to the street. It was a clear night. Like Earth, the rain on Cybertron cleared the air. Before Hunter could transform a smaller looking Cybertronian strolled up and asked him a question. They began talking and Hunter set the boys down for a moment to gesture. Jack smiled; asking for directions looked the same on any planet.

Jack felt the excitement rising up inside of him and tried to keep calm. He put on a confident front for Raf, but they still had no idea whether the process that had brought them here could even be reversed, or if the red and white bot would be willing to help. All they could do was find the lab and hope for the best.

The boys leaned against the wall of the library to stay out of the way of the shuffling crowd. Jack stood for a moment just listening to the sounds of the city. He wanted to remember everything he could to share with Arcee when they got back. His ears were becoming attuned to constant rumble produced by thousands upon thousands of engines. There was a deep throbbing, so low he didn't hear it so much as he felt it. The heartbeat of Cybertron itself maybe? Jacks musings were interrupted by a soft trill. He glanced around in surprise.

The distinctly uncybertronian noise had come from a small organic peeking out from around one of the glowing neon pillars the boys had hidden in while they waited for their chance to get in the library. Two large brown eyes were set at an angle in a round face. Jack glanced over at Hunter who was still instructing the smaller bot. The little organic looked nervously at the two Cybertronians and shrunk back with a pitiful whimper. Jack stepped toward the creature had held out his hand.

"Hey there, no need to be afraid. They won't hurt you," the human said. The small organic slipped back into the pillars. Jack slowly walked over.

"Hey Jack, I don't think we should be wandering off anywhere," Raf said. But the older boy was drawn to the little creature.

"Did you see that Raf?"

"See what?"

"The little organic in the pillars."

"No. Was it dangerous looking?" Raf asked a little nervously.

"No, no it was small. I think it looked more hungry and lost."

"Uh, Jack. The scraplets were small, hungry, and lost." Raf pointed out. But then the little creature poked its head out at looked at the boys with its wide pitiful eyes.

"Oh, that lil' guy?" asked Raf entranced as he trotted up beside Jack.

"Yeah, think he's lost?"

"Probably, here little fellow we won't hurt you," Raf and jack walked slowly closer to the organic. It smiled up at them and backed into the pillars. Jack followed it, careful not to make any threatening movements. Once in the circle of pillars Jack glanced around in confusion. The creature had disappeared. He turned to ask Raf if he had seen where it went, and his heart nearly stopped. Holding the smaller boy firmly around the throat was one of the scaly green bipeds from the vet's. Seven sharp claws dug into Raf's skin. From one a trickle of blood had started to run. Raf hung limply in the creature's grasp. Jack took a deep breath and said as firmly as he could,

"Let him go!"

The biped's mouth stretched out over multiple rows of razor sharp fangs. Jack couldn't tell if the creature was grinning at him or snarling. He suddenly heard Hunter calling their names. The biped's eyes flicked nervously from side to side and its claws tightened around the smaller boy neck. Jack lunged forward and shouted.

"Let him go! Hunter we're in here! Help!"

Jack grabbed onto the biped's arm and tried to loosen its grip on Raf. He was rewarded for his efforts with a solid blow to the gut from the creature's foot. The human gasped and staggered back to his feet. He could hear the pounding of Cybertronian feet. But before Hunter could reach them Jack felt a stabbing pain in the back of his neck. His limbs went limp and a gentle fog settled over his mind. He didn't struggle when another biped appeared and threw him over its shoulder. The green scaly organics were running for a large vehicular form parked in front of the library now. Jack cold see Hunter running after them. His optics were wide with shock, fear, and determination. 'He's going to rescue us,' was Jack's content thought before he drifted off into blackness.


	11. Chapter 11

Gladiator

Déjà vu 11

A Transformers Prime Fanfic

Rated PG-13 For Violence

Jack woke up screaming. In his dream he had been falling down an endless water fall. The reality he woke to was only slightly better. He was sliding down a steep ramp toward a blank wall. He frantically writhed around until he was sliding feet first and braced himself. Just as his feet reached the wall, the seemingly solid surface spiraled open to let him drop through to the filthy ground below. He bent his knees as he landed and came down on all fours.

Jack straightened his pith helmet and looked about him. Around was an open rectangle of a room about the size of a football field. The ceiling was high, maybe thirty or forty feet. The walls were blank and featureless except for suspect smears and stains. Piles of rock and mechanical parts littered the space. Jack couldn't see a single living thing in the mess.

"Raf?" he called out, coming up to a standing position. His wrists and ankles were chapped raw and his gut didn't hurt where the green organic had kicked him. His stomach tightened both at the memory and the implications. He had been out and trussed up probably for long enough for his abdominal muscles to heal. That meant two days at least. Mrs. Esquivel would probably call the police. Agent Fowler would have to be called in for a cover up. Jack smacked his thigh in frustration and tried to focus on where he was. Loosing focus could get him in an even worse situation.

Something was wrong here. This place, it looked way too much like an arena. He'd been brought here for a reason. His eyes flickered over the piles of rubbish. What was that noise? Arcee had once made a passing reference to the gladiator pits of Iacon, but when Jack and asked about it she had changed the subject.

"Fighting for profit?" Jack mused out loud as he headed for the tallest rubbish pile. He wanted a clear look around and it was always best to have the high ground if a fight started. As his mind cleared the pieces were beginning to fall into place. The oily blue Cybertronian at the vet's had been eyeing him very closely. The vet was known to service fighting animals. The blue bot's "pets" showing up to snatch the boys probably meant they'd been sold into a black market fighting ring.

"That cute little bugger must have been bait," Jack muttered bitterly. And he'd taken it hook line and sinker. Now he was separated from Raf and probably about to have to face something nasty in combat. He scrambled up the tallest pile of scrap. He tried not to think about what he was climbing on. It looked far too much like the bodies of offline Cybertronians. Did they make their own kind fight as well as organics? Jack began to realize why scrap was a curse word to the bots. From the top Jack could only see more scrap piles scattered around the arena. What were clearly video monitors were angled down at him; a few had even followed his movements. Jack turned to the nearest one and shouted,

"Hey, I know you can hear me! Where's my friend?" they probably couldn't understand him but it felt good to let off some steam. The skittering sound starting from behind him made Jack instantly regret the rash action though. He spun around to face whatever was coming and tripped down the pile. He landed on the floor on his hands and knees sporting several new lacerations. The skittering was getting closer. Around the base of the pile came the biggest millipede Jack had ever seen. The creature had once been a shiny chrome, but use and abuse and worn it down to a dull grey.

"I'm not going to fight you," Jack said firmly, hoping the creature was sentient. He scrambled quickly back up the pile. The millipede didn't look like it could handle uneven surfaces well. Sure enough it circled the pile, rusted mandibles crackling with electricity, but didn't try to climb.

Jack heard a whirling from above. Two small hovering spheres were cautiously approaching him. The human definitely didn't like the look of the sharp prongs protruding from the things. Jack slowly eased back under an overhang on the pile. He saw a short but sturdy length of metal pipe sticking out and picked it up, wielding it like a baseball bat. The two hovering bots seemed to hesitate. One made a quick dash at Jack and Jack swung at it. The pipe whistled through the air and the bot dodged it but retreated. The second bot used this distraction to dart in and jab Jack with its prongs. The boy let out a yelp and grabbed the thing with his free hand.

To the human's surprise the bot was easy to pull off. Apparently it could fly and poke but it had very little horse power. He held onto the sphere as it whined and strained to get away. The other let out sympathetic noises and nervously darted around the boy. Jack looked directly up at the monitoring cameras and held the sphere up.

"I will not fight for you!" He shouted. The human flung the struggling robot out at its mate and the two buzzed happily around each other for a moment. Then they regrouped and came back. Meanwhile the millipede still circled the base of the pile. Jack backed further under the overhang. Suddenly two sharp whistles pierced the air. The millipede froze then scampered off eagerly toward the wall. Jack leaned out to see what it was after.

"RAF!" Jack shouted hoarsely. The boy was sprawled on the floor by the wall. Presumably dropped out of a shute as well. The metallic millipede was headed right for him, clicking its electric mandibles eagerly. Jack leapt down of the pile, waving the pipe warningly at the hover spheres. The long many legged bot was not fast. He was fairly sure he could outrun it but it would be close. The millipede had a lead. Jack took a deep breath and ran. He had to dodge around rusting body parts and brittle bones. He had the advantage of being able to jump over objects the bot had to scamper around. He pulled ahead and reached his limp friend well ahead of the millipede. He got the smaller boy into a fireman's carry and began dodging back toward an alcove he had spotted.

The hover spheres were getting bolder. One darted in and took a stab at Raf. Jack spun around and struck out one handed with the pipe. It smacked into the bot with a clang and the thing spun around dazed. The second tried a feint from the other side and Jack swung at it. A familiar skittering sound approached and Jack realized they were only stalling him. He leapt forward and into the alcove. It was slightly elevated on the pile, so the millipede couldn't follow them in. It was deep enough that when he laid Raf down in the back he still had enough room to defend the entrance.

Jack crouched in front of his friend holding out the pipe. He had no idea how much time had passed in that position. Occasionally he had to shift his position, but every time he did the three bots watching him would try to make a dash for the smaller boy. Jack was beginning to get worried. Raf's chest rose and fell regularly, but the boy still hadn't woken up.

Suddenly the lights went out. Or rather the overhead lights went out. Jacks eyes quickly adjusted to the darkness, and out among the plies and rubbish hundreds of weak LED like lights glowed and flickered. Was it ever truly dark anywhere on Cybertron in this age? Two green spots, brighter than the others, danced over Jack's head. The hover spheres. Jack gripped the pipe tighter and waited for them to attack in the dark. But then three doors opened in the far wall and a commanding buzz filled the room. The two hover spheres zipped out through the higher aperture and the millipede steadily skittered out through a lower one. The respective doors disappeared behind the creatures leaving one ground level opening casting a pathway of light across the arena.

Jack shifted nervously. What unseen creature was the third door for? The commanding buzz sounded again. Nothing stirred. The human felt a prickle of electricity play across his neck. He touched the place curiously and felt a slim metal band running around his throat. A shock collar, Jack realized belatedly. The buzz sounded again accompanied by a mild, but stronger shock. The boy didn't need Raf to translate that. Go through the door or else.

Jack carefully picked Raf up in a fireman's carry and gripped the pipe. He stepped out into the darkness. Being careful to avoid the path of light from the door, no need to highlight himself for any snipers that might be out there, he slipped toward the opening. He paused at the door, trying to see into the light beyond. A shock of pain ripped through his neck. He staggered forward and nearly drooped Raf, who also cried out in pain. Strong green hands reached through the door and grabbed them both. Jack was thrown roughly onto a table and strapped down. Standing over them was the bot from the vet's. Out of the corner of his eye Jack could see Raf being thrown into a cage.

"Hey, let me up! Let me see my fr..ack!" a shock tore through him. And he saw Raf's limp body spasm in pain. The oily blue bot stared down at him with a twisted grin on its faceplates. The message was quiet clear. Cooperate or you and your friend suffer. Jack slumped back on the table gasping in pain. The blue bot began playing scanning lights over Jacks prone body. Holograms of his internal organs appeared in the surrounding air. When the white vet bot had done this Jack had been interested, now he just felt, invaded. The blue bot touched a dial on the side of his head and began conversing with someone. He waved to one of the green bipeds and it walked up to Jack with its index claw extended. A prick on the neck, and blackness took the boy.

Hunger was gnawing at the human's stomach when he woke up again. His cuts stung and his tattoos burned. He was in a small cell with Raf. The smaller boy was awake and chained to the wall. Jack staggered up and walked over to his friend.

"Raf are you okay?" he asked frantically.

Raf nodded and gave him a trying to be brave smile.

"Jack, I think I should be asking you that. You're the one they're going to make go out into the Pits."

"What?" Jack asked, but he had a sinking feeling he knew what the boy was talking about.

"I woke up while they were still scanning you. The blue bot, he was trying to convince someone that you were going to make a good gladiator for the fighting pits," Raf said, rubbing his shoulders nervously. "They talked a lot."

"Well, did they say anything about food?" Jack asked as his stomach let out a complaint. Raf pointed at the far wall.

"Over there."

Jack went over to a trough like container set in the wall. The gloop had been unappetizing. Whatever was in the trough was downright revolting. Jack took a long look at the slimy green scum and turned to Raf.

"Are you sure this is food?"

Raf nodded.

"I heard the blue bot discussing it with the computer, supposedly It's specially formulated for you, to keep you strong and healthy for the fights."

A dead weight settled in Jack's stomach. But he shook it off.

"Does your chain reach this far?"

"No."

"That's odd. Why did they chain you up and not me?" Jack mused out loud as he scooped up some of the green scum into the empty soy jerky bag. It occurred to him that nothing was missing from his pockets. Not even the line welder. Now that was odd, why would they leave his stuff? He carried the scum over and handed it to Raf.

"Eat up we need to keep our strength up. Hey what happened to your tat?" Jack asked in surprise as he got his first good look at the smaller boy's face. The Cybertronian symbols had been covered with an oily black smear.

"Remember I told you the 'tattoos' were for tracking? Well they don't want us to be found so they covered it with this insulating compound to block the signals. I think that's why they burn." Raf answered glumly. "Hunter's probably worried sick."

Jack nodded. Their moms would be too by now, and all the bots back at the base. He smiled ruefully. He was fairly worried himself. The human went back to the trough to get himself some of the organic matter; he was not going to dignify it with the name food.

" So, we're going to be gladiators?"

"Not me, just you." Raf said quietly. "That's why you aren't chained up. They want you to fight and…" The smaller boy drifted off and stared down at what he was eating.

"And what?" Jack asked.

"I heard the blue bot talking," Raf whispered. "He told the bot on the other end that you probably wouldn't fight without a reason. That's why our training collars are linked. Every time you lose, or don't show enough aggression, or just disobey I'll get a shock as well as you. If you get killed…I'm not going to be a gladiator, I'm blackmail." Tears were slipping out of Raf's eyes now. "And Jack? That's not all. He said that if you failed to…take you opponent offline, the collars would kill both of us." Jack came over and sat down beside his friend. He wrapped the smaller boy in a hug and they just held each other for a moment. What Raf had told him was just too much to process for the moment. That level of cruelty.

"So I vote we call the blue bot Vick." Jack said finally. Raf's face twisted into a small smile. "Anyway, I'm going to need you functioning at your peak so eat that up."

Raf looked up at him in confusion. What would Jack need him for?

"Hey, I can't read this archaic Cybertronian. To get out of here we are going to need to hack their systems, deactivate the collars, and find a way out of this maze. You're the genius, and I probably won't have much time to help you."

Raf nodded and felt his confidence starting to return. There was a control panel just out of his reach. If he could tell Jack what to do they might just be able to hack the system. He forced some more of the green scum down. When he was finished he looked firmly up into Jacks blue/grey eyes.

"We WILL make it home." He repeated their promise. Jack smiled and grasped his outstretched hand.

"We WILL make it home." Jack responded, then dug into his own scum. As soon as they were finished a heavy feeling fell over the boys. Jack sat down by his friend and they leaned together. Soon they were both fast asleep.

He was falling down a waterfall again. Jack woke up without screaming this time and landed on all fours. He dodged immediately to the side and glanced around. Stable high ground there, cover there and there. Possible blunt object weapons there and there, possible sharp weapons there. Jack ran for the high ground on the pile, grabbing up a club on the way. It took him a second to realize he was in a different arena. This one was smaller and slightly cleaner. The walls were glass clear, and on the other side… Jack felt a sense of shock. A small part of his brain told him he shouldn't, if there were gladiator matches someone had to be paying to watch them, but it was still disconcerting to see eager Cybertronians seated in the stands, waiting to watch him fight and die. The stands were far from full but there were easily dozens of the robots seated around.

A whirling noise attracted Jacks attention. A bread box sized bot was rolling toward him. The crowd let out a rather flat cheer. This was obviously not the highlight of the evening. Jack shifted his position and tried to focus on the oncoming bot while keeping his senses alert for a second attack. The breadbox reached the pile Jack was on and transformed into a squat, square headed little bot maybe three feet high. It transformed its forearms into nasty looking energon prods and started up the pile toward the human. Jack called down.

"Hey can you understand …" A shock stabbed into his neck. He shut up remembering Raf back in the cell. Maybe he didn't have to kill the bot. Maybe he could win by disabling it. He looked over the climbing bot for weaknesses. The joints looked worn. If he could bust a few servos maybe they could both make it out of here alive. Jack kicked a roundish piece of rubble down toward the bot to gain some time. The scrap hit the bot and knocked it back to the floor. A rumble of laughter and derisive shouting came from the stands. Out of the corner of his eye Jack saw something silvery slip out of the crowd, but the bot was climbing again.

Jack grasped his club like a baseball bat and swung at the bot's shoulder as it peaked the ridge. The thing lunged forward and under the blow, and before Jack could recover latched onto his hand with both prods. Unbelievable pain seared through Jack's hand. He dropped his club and tried to pry the bot off. To his surprise he was able to yank out both of the prods. The little bot wasn't very strong and the arm prods seemed to be its only weapon. It wriggled and writhed in Jack's grasp but the human pinned it to the ground and held on. The bot opened its "mouth" and spit out a stream of acid that burned down Jack's side. The crowd was chanting something now. A prickle of electricity ran around Jack's neck.

"No," Jack whispered, as a painful hand seemed to grip his heart. The chanting grew louder and a more powerful surge on energy leapt across his neck. He thought of Raf in the cell, Mom at home, the Autobots, if he didn't finish the bot he and Raf were dead, if he did how could he ever look Optimus in the face again? A powerful surge of electricity almost made him lose his grip on the bot. Jack held the bot's shoulders in one arm and got a grip on its head with the other. He leaned over the small creature and whispered,

"I'm sorry."

Raf looked up as Jack staggered into the cell. His hand was swollen and bloody, his arm hung limp. Where the tattoo had been covered was swollen and oozing under the Cybertronian symbols. There was a blue stain running from Jack's chin to his knees. The human's head was hanging so low Raf couldn't see his friend's eyes.

"Jack?" Raf reached out to his friend. Jack looked up slowly. Raf took a deep breath. The pain in those blue eyes was like nothing the smaller boy had ever seen before. Raf felt guilt welling up inside but decided the only thing he could do was try to comfort his friend over what must have passed outside of the cell. But instead of coming over to the smaller boy, Jack staggered over to the far side of the cell and collapsed into a sitting position. He wrapped his arms around his legs and buried his face in his knees.

"Jack, it's okay…"Raf started and then stopped. What could he say? He had no idea what Jack was going through. He remembered how much he had needed to be held after nearly being killed. He had to get Jack over here to comfort the older boy somehow. What could convince Jack to come out of his self-imposed isolation?

"Jack, would you please bring me some food? I'm very hungry." The older boy looked up blankly, but got up and filled a jerky bag with the green scum. He handed it over to Raf and turned to go back to the other side of the cell. Raf swallowed his pride and tried to sound as weak and helpless as possible as he grabbed Jack's good hand.

"Jack, please stay by me. I'm scared." Raf remembered his sister Pilar's instructions for getting what you wanted from an older brother; big eyes, a few tears, and let your lips quiver a bit like you're about to lose it. Jack needed him right now, and if he had to act like a baby to comfort his friend then so be it, masculine pride put up a fight but compassion had won. He prepared to turn on the water works if necessary. But Jack sat down beside him without comment. Raf leaned up against his friend's shoulder silently. There was nothing to be said. Finally sleep mercifully claimed the two boys.


	12. Chapter 12

Rescued

Déjà vu 12

A Transformers Prime FanFic

Jack woke with a start. The door to the cell was open and one of the green skinned organics was roughly unchaining Raf. Jack lunged at the creature without thinking and it easily knocked him aside. The human reached into a pocket and pulled out the line welder. He activated it and prepared to attack the biped. But he was grabbed from behind and felt the prick of a claw in the back of his neck. This time however he didn't go completely under. 'I must be developing a resistance,' he thought as he went limp.

Time seemed to stretch and warp. They were being hustled towards a door. There was a silver and blue blur in the way. The green skinned biped dropped Jack and ran off. Jack struggled to turn and see what the pounding noise was that had scared the organic. Hunter was striding down the corridor. Jack knew he should feel something; relief or joy, but even seeing the red and blue bot tenderly scoop up Raf in one hand didn't stir the dead ache in his heart. Hunter called out his name as he worriedly picked Jack up. Cool suddenly appeared and held out his hands. Hunter placed Jack gently in the outstretched servos. The oily blue bot was in front of Hunter, snarling and gesturing at the boys. The red and blue Cybertronian said a few calm things but Vick kept pushing him. Jack would later swear he heard something snap. But the blue bot was on the ground, Hunter standing over him shouting in rage, an energon blade pricking Vick's neck.

Cool said something soothing to the larger bot. Hunter stood upright slowly, still glaring down at the bot on the floor. In one hand he held a limp Raf, the other was an energon blade pointed down at the enemy. Jack felt a powerful sense of déjà vu wash over him. He had seen that scene before somewhere. He knew Hunter. Reality faded.

They were in Hunter's cargo hold. Then in the room where the old yellow bot bent close to Hunter and whispered. Jack was looking out the window over Iacon, somehow it didn't seem as magical as before. They were wandering corridors, examining the bases of the walls. Raf was holding the red sponge up to his lips, encouraging him to drink. Gloop was being spooned into his mouth. They were in a lab, the red and white bot gesturing excitedly, hunter talking to him calmingly. Hunter was squeezing water over his head from the sponge, and gently dabbing his face with a cloth. 'I must be sick,' Jack realized, 'Infections from…'

"…to increase the velocity to compensate for the increased temporal dilatation…" Raf was muttering as he worked over his calculator. The red and white bot was running lights over him. Jack was hot so hot. " …be useless unless it is triggered from the other side…" Hunter was holding them both singing a sad old Cybertronian song. Raf was shouting at him to hold on. He felt the smaller boy clinging to him and some instinct made him hold his friend as tightly as he could. Hunter threw them. The sheer panic of the moment cleared Jack's mind. They were hurtling towards an open groundbridge portal. Jack gripped Raf tightly as the blue mist enveloped them. There was that feeling of, wrongness, again the bridge was lasting far too long.

And then they were flying again. Powerful hands caught them gently. Two compassionate blue optics looked gently down on the boys.

"Hunter?" Jack asked in confusion. He struggled to sit upright; he had to think, to plan, Raf was depending on him.

"Jackson Darby," A deep, familiar voice washed over him like a wave. "It is I, Optimus Prime. You have brought Raf home safely. Well done. Now you must rest and heal. You are safe." Jack relaxed into the warm servos holding him and let sleep take away the pain.


	13. Chapter 13

Home

Déjà vu 13

A Transformers Prime FanFic

Beep, beep, beep, the sound of a heart monitor, cool clean sheets, cool cave air, the smell of disinfectants, the smell of energon. One by one quiet sensations registered in the young man's mind. Jack Darby slowly opened him eyes and stared up at a tall grey ceiling. He was lying on a hospital bed in Ratchet's lab. His mind floated in a cloud of comfort. There was something terrible hovering at the edge of his awareness, but for the moment he was safe and there was nothing he needed to do.

A small movement at his side finally drew his attention. His mother was sitting at his bedside. Her head lay on the mattress, the stethoscope sprawled out around her neck, and her hand rested lightly on his arm. She was wearing scrubs that probably hadn't been changed in days. Her dark brown hair was mussed and almost pulled out of its ubiquitous ponytail. The young man smiled tenderly at the woman. He reached out and gently brushed a hair out of her face. Her eyes fluttered open and a warm smile bloomed on her face. She leaned forward and wrapped her arms around her son. Burying her face in his hair.

"I love you Jackson Darby." She whispered fiercely.

"I love you Mom." Jack whispered back.

The small family pulled apart. June Darby smiled at her son. There was a look in his face she didn't like, but she was far to relieved to have him safely home to press the matter at the moment.

"Where's Raf?" Jack asked looking over at an empty bed.

"Over by the computers. He said something about crunching the numbers for your science project." Mrs. Darby explained.

Jack frowned, science project? What,

"Oh yeah," he said tiredly and leaned back against the pillow. The project seemed distant, like it had happened ages ago to someone else. "But didn't the algae all die while we were gone?"

A squeal of tires interrupted his mother's response. Jack heard a door slam and Bulkhead's distinct transformation sound. Running footsteps sounded across the base and something clattered to the floor. Jack heard Ratchet call out in frustration.

"Miko! I need that!"

The running footsteps approached the lab and a disheveled pink and black head of hair rounded the corner.

"Jacks awake! He's finally come to!" Miko let out a squeal as she came bounding around the corner. Her clothes were torn and she was covered in dust. "Hail the concurring hero!" the slim Asian girl jumped up on the bed and grabbed Jack's head in both hands.

"Ah, hi Miko," Jack said a bit overwhelmed.

"And how is the dragon slaying knight rewarded when he gets back to the castle?" Miko demanded with a sparkle dancing in her eyes.

"Um, peace and quiet?" Jack asked hopefully, wincing painfully at the dragon slayer reference.

"NO!" Miko leaned forward and planted a firm kiss directly on the shocked boy's lips. "A kiss from the beautiful princess of course." She declared mischievously. "So I'm not exactly a princess, you're a hero, deal."

"Miko!" June Darby gently but firmly pulled the girl off of her son. "Jack is injured. You need to be more careful around him." The mother was torn between rumpled dignity and propriety, and laughing herself senseless at the look on her son's face.

"Miko," Jack protested, "I'm no…"

"Miko! Out. Now." Ratchet ordered as he entered the lab.

"But I want to see Jack!" The girl protested as she clung to Jack's uninjured hand.

"At the moment you are disturbing his intravenous drip." The red and white medibot growled at the girl. "Now please go wait with the others before you do any more damage." Miko glanced down at the needle she had bumped in Jack's arm.

"Oh sorry. Hey get well soon." She called as Ratchet herded her out of the lab.

The medibot shook his head as he walked over to where Nurse Darby was resetting the IV in her son's arm.

"She means well, I know, but that girl can cause more damage than a plague of scraplets," declared the Autobot as he began running scanning lights over the human. "Now Jack, how are you feeling." The red and white bot knelt down by the human and looked compassionately into the boy's face. Jack glanced away from the healer, he felt dirty. There was no blue stain on him anymore, but he could still feel the energon spilling over his chest.

"I… I, my arm hurts a little." Jack finally stammered out. Get the easy things out of the way. "I'm hungry and thirsty. My legs itch where they got cut I guess and my skin is burning where…" Jack stopped dead. There were bandages over most of the right side of his body, completely covering the tattoo. He took a deep breath and glanced over at his mom. She was bent over a computer screen with her back to him. The hairs on the back of his neck prickled. She must have seen them already. Why exactly was he still breathing?

"Where is your skin burning?" Ratchet prompted him.

"Ah, um." Jack rubbed the back of his neck with his bandaged hand.

"I believe he means the skin on which the nanobot markers were placed is burning," his mother said coolly without looking up.

"Ah, that is to be expected. With the acid and blockers on top of such recently applied nanobots some irritation was unavoidable. Luckily for you I was able to give the area an energon bath so quickly. Your skin should heal rapidly. But for the burning now you can have your mother or one of the other children apply lotion. The rest of your injuries appear to be healing nicely. I used a brain stimulation technique to help with your pain earlier, if you need another application just ask. For now thought I suggest you simply rest and recharge. Nurse Darby informed me has some meals planned that she assures me you'll find quite appetizing." The medibot beamed down at his college as she returned to her son's side.

"Um, 'my cold dead body," Jack nervously reminded his mother.

Ratchet raised one brow in confusion and looked at the nurse. The woman had an odd look on her face and one eyebrow was twitching spasmodically.

"Jack is simply referring to a conversation we had a few years ago regarding permanent alterations to his body, Ratchet." Nurse Darby said in a very controlled voice.

"Ah you are referring to the nanobot markings." The Autobot said nodding.

June looked at her son and an odd smile twisted her lips.

"Optimus had a talk with me just before you returned. He claimed full responsibility for the 'tattoos' and assured me that Ratchet would eventually find a way to deactivate and remove the nanobots."

Jack let out a relieved sigh and slumped back into the bed. So that's why he was still alive. Optimus had taken the shot for them. Something in his mom's story didn't sound quite right though, he frowned and tried to sort it out. But more pressing needs demanded his attention.

"I need to use the bathroom." He said glancing around. The nearest restroom was across the base hanger and he didn't know how he was going to make it pulling the IV. Ratchet stood back up looking very pleased with himself.

"Right this way Jack," June smiled as she efficiently removed the needle from her son's arm. "Ratchet decided that it would be best to have a "Biological Decontamination Unit" handy in his lab. So he called Agent Fowler and they got this set up." She led her son into what he had thought was an old cargo container. Jack looked around in astonishment. The inside was set up with a three head shower, jacusi, two full sink setups, and a full length mirror. There were shelves of towels and wash products. Everything was military surplus, of course, so there was nothing plush about the set up, but it got the job done.

"Wow, Agent Fowler came through." Jack said.

"That he did. There's a change of clothes for you on the counter." June replied getting a towel, wash rag, and bar of soap out of a cabinet. "No showers or baths until the acid burns heal but fell free to wash up otherwise."

"How long were we gone?"

"Forty-eight hours or so." Jack almost protested that, but decided it made his life easier, so why bother, there was time travel involved anyway. "This was delivered as a complete unit soon after you left. They had me organize it once it was plumbed into the base. I think that was mainly to keep me from worrying though." June continued. She smiled at her son and gently touched his cheek.

"I'm so glad you're both back safe," she whispered.

His mom left him and Jack wandered over to the mirror. He looked awful. There were bags under his eyes. Bruises ranging from blue to green to brown covered most of the skin that the bandages and hospital gown didn't. His hair needed a cut and was acid burned in places. The blue stain was gone… Jack turned away from the mirror and tried not to think about it.

When he came out dressed Arcee was waiting for him. Her face was aglow with joy. She knelt down in front of him and held out a hand.

"Welcome home partner." She said softly.

Jack rested his hand in hers and tried to think of something to say. He couldn't meet her eyes. The soft sound of her neck servos whirring as she leaned forward. The snap to the little breadbox bot's neck… Jack pulled his hand out of hers and glanced away. How could he face them? If the cycle bot noticed his hesitation she didn't show it. Her calm façade held for a moment, then snapped. She scooped the human up in a hug and held him firmly to her.

"Don't ever do something crazy like that again!" she whispered fiercely. "I don't know what I'd do if I lost another partner." There was pain and relief mixed in her voice.

"Okay, okay," Jack said with a weak laugh, "I'll never let a planetary alignment, foretold by ancient prophesy, sweep me away again. You have my word!"

Arcee arched her brows and leaned back far enough to get a good look at Jack's face. A smile twitched at the corners of her mouth. Then laughter took her. She set Jack gently down and leaned forward with her hands on her knees, laughing out all the fear and stress of the last two days. Jack let out a weak chuckle. The cycle bot stood up and said,

"I don't think June and Ratchet can hold off the others much longer. They promised me a few minutes alone together but I say let the mob in now and we'll go for a nice long ride after you're well enough."

Jack nodded. He really didn't want to see anyone right now; didn't want Miko to call him a hero again, didn't want to have to face his mom, didn't want to face the Autobots. Not after what he had done. The memory surfaced again, the little cry the… Jack shook his head and focused on what Arcee was saying.

"Yeah, a ride sounds great."

Arcee tilted her head at his reply. Something was wrong with the human, but he was injured. She decided talking it out could wait for the ride.

"Common partner, let's go face the music."

Jack walked out into the base. They were all there. Ratchet and Optimus Prime were standing by the main computer, Miko and his mom were chatting together by the sofa, Bulkhead and Bee were crouched over Raf listening to him excitedly going on about something. Jack looked at Raf and his spirits immediately lightened. Raf looked good. He had bandages covering his tattoos but otherwise the experience seemed to have left no mark on him.

The smaller boy looked up and saw Jack. He jumped up from his laptop and ran over to fling his arms around the older boy. The two just held on to each other for a moment. His friend was safe, that was enough for now.

"Hey! See, Bulkhead? That's what 'looks like something a cat dragged in' looks like." Miko shouted.

"Wow," the green bot stared at Jack in fascination.

"Thanks a lot Miko." Jack said with a week grin.

"All right! Everyone just back off till Jack can get up to the couch." Arcee ran interference, waving off the other Autobots as Raf took Jack's hand and led him up to the sofa.

"Food! Food!" Miko called out as she produced a steaming platter covered in tin foil. Raf scampered over to grab a tall glass and a pitcher. Jack's stomach let out an audible rumble. He hadn't realized how hungry he was.

"Now remember to eat slowly," June cautioned as she handed her son a napkin and silverware, "From what little Raf has told us you haven't had real food in weeks."

Jack nodded and eagerly peeled back the foil. A steaming tray of rice, beans, and chicken tortillas steamed up at him invitingly. He glanced up at his mom a look of surprise on his face, before digging eagerly in. I was hard to eat slowly but he managed.

"Oh, that's not my work." His mom answered his unasked question, "Mrs. Esquivel sent that over with Raf. We've been spreading around that you went off the road on your bike, after finishing the experiment. She sent this over as a get well meal."

"Gooo fooo," Jack mumbled through a mouthful of spicy rice, "Tank yoo mmm fo me." He said to Raf, who smiled proudly. The meal was good, unbelievably so. A little eerie though with everyone watching him eagerly. That was explained after he had washed down the last mouthful with a pitcher of ice tea.

"So spill!" Miko finally demanded, jumping up and kneeling on the edge of the couch. "What happened?"

"Didn't Raf already tell you?" Jack asked in confusion. The smaller boy glanced awkwardly at his feet.

"He hasn't told us scrap." Bulkhead declared. "He said he didn't know the whole story so you'd both tell us when you woke up."

"June and Ratchet made it clear that there would be no interrogating you until you'd had a bath, a meal, and could walk on your own." Arcee filled in.

Bumble chimed in with a string of whistles.

"Yeah, like Bee said," Raf interjected, "I've been busy helping Ratchet fix the groundbridge so this never happens again and crunching the numbers for our project. So I haven't had time to tell them anything." Jack looked searchingly at his friend. He had learned to read Raf in the time on Cybertron. The smaller boy was offering him the gift of control. Only what Jack wanted to would be told.

"I think," Optimus Prime interjected at this point, "we should allow Jack and Rafael to tell their story at their own pace."

Jack turned to look gratefully at the Autobot leader, and was hit by a wave of déjà vu. Those sky blue optics were staring gently down at him full of eons of wisdom, kindness, and pain. They felt so familiar. Jack shook his head in confusion, of course Optimus was familiar. But he couldn't shake the feeling that there was some connection he should be making.

Everyone was staring at him expectantly. There was a knowing smile playing around the corners of Ratchet's mouth. Jack took a deep breath and smiled at Raf.


	14. Chapter 14

Revelations

Déjà Vu 14

A Transformers Prime Fanfic

"Well I guess I should start from the beginning." Jack said looking around at the gathered Autobots. "Raf noticed something odd about the groundbridge in from camp."

"Yes, there were odd power fluctuations," Ratchet interrupted, shaking his head. "I should never have let you go through, but I didn't think them of any real consequence at the time."

"Let Jack tell the story!" snapped Arcee.

"I didn't feel it that time but the next I did." Jack paused and frowned in thought. "It took time. Every other time I've bridged it was instant, but there was a sense of time passing. That's what was odd. Then we were in this lab." Everyone was leaning in eagerly. "There was a red and white Cybertronian and a smaller version of the groundbridge. I wanted to get out of there as quickly as possible, Raf suggested we ask the bot for help, but since I thought we were still on earth at the time I assumed he was a con. Well we escaped the lab and got out into this corridor and ran. When we finally made it to a window we realized," Jack paused and looked up at Optimus, "That we were on Cybertron." To Jack's surprise the Autobot leader didn't share in the general gasp of astonishment, and only nodded for the human to continue.

"Wild!" Miko breathed, her eyes wide with glee.

"But that's impossible!" Arcee exclaimed, "The groundbridge just doesn't have that…"

"Autobots! Please let Jack continue his story." Optimus Prime rumbled.

"Yeah, we were pretty surprised," Jack continued, nervously rubbing the back of his neck. "Raf here was amazing though. He was able to translate the old Cybertronian symbols we saw down in the city, in Iacon, "

Bumblebee let out a small longing noise, but a glance from the Prime silenced him.

"And he was able to point us toward a library where we could gather information. So we got there and…"

"You guys should have seen Jack!" Raf interjected. "He went all action hero! He led us down the outside of the Iacon Hall of Science, climbing from ledge to ledge, then he, got us across the main thoroughfare between the Hall of Records and the Hall of Science, with bots zooming by all around us, and when it started raining he protected me with his own,"

"Raf!" Jack took the story back with a pleading glance at the smaller boy. If someone called him a hero one more time he was going to scream.

Just then the base com crackled to life and Agent Fowler's voice penetrated the butte.

"Prime!"

Optimus stood erect and nodded to Jack.

"Please continue while I handle this. I've been expecting this call and it should only last a short time."

"So anyway we snuck into the library behind this silver and blue bot." Jack continued the story. The Autobots leaned in eagerly as he told them about the view through the window. The bots looked politely at the pictures the boys had taken on their phones, but seemed to prefer their descriptions.

"We have digital images of Cybertron," Bulkhead explained to them, "tell us what you saw."

When the human described sunrise over the Crystal Gardens Arcee closed her optics and let out a low cry that was almost painful.

Jack warmed to the story as he began describing Hunter and Cool. The friendship he had formed with the red and blue Cybertronian must have been obvious. Arcee arched her eyebrows and whispered loudly to Mrs. Darby,

"Think I should be jealous?"

When he described Geezer and the giant book Arcee got a funny look on her faceplates, like she was trying to remember something, but she let Jack continue. Miko was rolling on the floor with laughter as the boys described their trip to the vet's. She pulled herself together enough to look intently at Jack for a moment.

"So this Hunter is like, a responsible citizen?" she asked as mischief danced behind a serious look.

"Yes, absolutely," Jack replied.

"And he took you to the vet's to be registered as his pets?"

"Well, yes but it was only to protect us…"

Miko waved away the explanation.

"Yes, but considering what responsible citizens have done to their pets at the vet's," Miko paused to let her words sink in, "do you both feel, you know, 'all there'?"

Jack and Raf glanced at each other and felt a moment of horror.

"Miko!" Mrs. Darby frowned at the precocious girl, "the boys are JUST FINE, Ratchet ran full scans and the nanobot tattoos were the only permanent alterations to their bodies."

The Autobots glanced at each other in confusion during this exchange. Jack hurried to continue the story before they could ask any questions. Raf jumped in and they described the sparring match together, both boys became animated, telling how the two Cybertronians had danced their battle. Bumblebee listened silently, optics whirring intently. The boys took turns telling about the scenes at the 'restaurant'. Jack described the crowd and proprietor while Raf detailed the games they played.

"I know that place!" exclaimed Bulkhead, when the boys paused to take a drink, "Macadam's Old Oil House! Before the war, me and my construction buddies would hang out there! Sounds like you were there before my time tho."

Jack turned to the red and white medibot.

"Ratchet, I wanted to ask. The bots we saw at Macadam's were drinking liquids. I've never seen you guys do anything but take your energon intravenously. Also I'm pretty sure that what Hunter and Cool were drinking wasn't the same as the energon I've seen. What gives?"

"Well Jack, we have all had to make, adjustments, since the war began." Ratchet began. His voice was serious and devoid of the usual pomp he showed when someone asked him for information. "Before the war we consumed energon much as you humans consume food. Our internal mechanisms processed the energon and distributed it throughout our body. We were similarly able to consume our lubricants and other vital liquids. However, it is far more efficient to process things externally and avoid the 'digestion' process. With energon in such short supply during the war, well we've adapted."

The humans were silent for a moment, imagining what it would be like to give up eating and live off of an IV.

"As to what those young bots were drinking," Ratchet snorted and glanced over at Prime, still talking with Fowler, "Macadam's had several ways of altering energon and lubricants. Most, of them were legal."

"Another thing, kind of backtracking here, but you called our tattoos," Jack cast a nervous glance at his mom, "nanobot markings?"

"Yes, what you are calling a tattoo is actually a colony of nanobots. They live on your skin and consume your waste products for energy." Ratchet explained. "They also broadcast location information so the owner can locate his pets."

Jack felt his skin start to crawl under the bandages.

"Both yours and Raf's were covered with an inhibitor when you arrived. Yours were also reacting to a type of cleaning acid…"

Jack's mind flashed back to the little robot, fighting for its life. He shook his head and tuned back in just in time to hear Raf say absentmindedly,

"The acid must have deactivated the blocker and let the nanobots start broadcasting again. That must be how Hunter found us in the Gladiator Pits…"Raf snapped his jaw shut but it was too late.

"Gladiator pits!" June and Arcee coursed in horror. Miko leaned forward, suddenly extremely interested. Bee's optics dilated in shock and he reached out and pulled Raf closer to him.

"How'd you two end up in the Organic Pile?" Bulkhead demanded eagerly. "It was the Organic Pile right? But I thought that Hunter bot was watching out for you? Why'd he let you get taken somewhere where you coulda' been some Praxian shmog's dinner?"

"Bulkhead, clamp it!" Arcee transmitted across their radios. She could see the rising horror in June's eyes. Raf wriggled a little in Bee's protective hold.

"Well it turned out okay. I mean Jack won and…"

"Raf!" Jack cut in hurriedly. "Anyway, we were kidnapped, by this blue bot from the vet's, but Hunter and Cool came to rescue us." The older boy ploughed through the explanation, not daring to look at his mom, praying no one would ask any questions. "I guess after Hunter took us back to the library I was really sick because I only remember bits and pieces until I woke up here in the lab." Jack let the story trail off and looked at Raf. The smaller boy squirmed out of Bee's grasp and pushed his glasses back into place as he took over the story.

"So after Hunter rescued us he took us back to Geezer. They had this long talk and then Hunter took us across the street to the Iacon Hall of Science. We had used some basic trigonometry to narrow down the search area so it didn't take us long to find the window we'd crawled out of and from there the lab."

"Wait how'd you boys find your way back to the lab?" Ratchet demanded, "I know that building complex well and it is a maze of passageways."

"When we escaped from the lab in the first place Jack had grabbed two line welders. Every time we turned a corner he had burned the wall with his welder."Raf explained.

Despite lingering shivers over the reference to the pits, Arcee and Mrs. Darby couldn't help beaming at the older boy in quiet pride, but Jack didn't notice.

"But anyway, we found the lab. When Hunter took us in the same bot was there and I recognized him this time." Raf grinned up at Ratchet and asked, "Do you want to tell them?"

The old medibot shook his head and waved the human on.

"It was Ratchet!" The listeners displayed a very satisfactory astonishment, Jack included, while Ratchet chuckled softly.

"Wait a minute!" demanded Bulkhead. "They were blasted across light years of space and eons of time and they just happen to land in your lab? That's some crazy coincidence."

"It was no coincidence I'm afraid," Ratchet said gravely, he stood up straighter and narrowed his eyes. "I am afraid I must claim responsibility for this whole fiasco."

"What are you talking about?" Nurse Darby asked, "You said repeatedly you had no idea what had gone wrong."

"Tell them Ratchet." Rafael urged.

"I had vey nearly forgotten the incident, until Optimus reminded me and he hadn't remembered until after the boys had departed. It was a long time ago," Ratchet began with a far off look in his optics, "a very long time ago. I was a brash young student set to work on the team developing ground and spacebridge technology."

"But we've had that stuff forever!" protested Bulkhead. "You're not that old. I think."

"No I'm not." Ratchet replied archly. "But by that era much of the ancient's skills and knowledge had been lost, including groundbridge capability. Our task was to regain some of capability's they had bequeathed us. I had a disagreement with the main team. There were recorded procedures for establishing the wormhole, but they seemed to me to be useless redundancies. I was frustrated with our lack of progress. So one night I snuck into the lab and attempted to establish a stable wormhole without using the procedures. Imagine my surprise when two tiny organic popped into existence, and then escaped from my lab. I was so shocked I didn't end up telling my superiors what had happened until after I had sent them home."

"Did you get in trouble?" asked Miko eagerly.

"Trouble would be putting it mildly. But I never failed to use the proper procedures again. Until…"

"Until you were trapped on a primitive planet with limited resources and absolutely no oversight," Jack finished for him nodding in understanding.

"Yes, our groundbridge here was based on the work I did there. The two devices were nearly identical, they must have, called out, to each other. I'm still not sure how. With Raf's assistance I've instituted fail-safe's that will prevent this from happening again," the medibot stated firmly. "But the only reason I was able to send the boys home then was that young Rafael here was able to give me the coordinates for Earth in this time, translated into formulas I could plug into the system I had then. That was quite a feat for anyone."

Raf smiled shyly at the praise.

"So, that's how Optimus knew to catch the boys in mid air when they came through the bridge? And that they would have the nanobot markings?" June asked.

Over at the main control panel Agent Fowler was winding down. Jack glanced that way and saw Optimus reach down to disengage the com and turn to come back to the human's area. The human gripped the sides of the couch as reality seemed to rearrange itself around him.

"Jack? Are you okay?" His mom asked seeing the stunned look on his face.

"Hunter?" Jack murmured.

"What about him?" Arcee inquired.

"Hey, I gotta question," Miko broke in, not seeming to notice Jack's state of shock. "If Raf couldn't understand the bots at first how did you know what their names were? And why couldn't the bots understand you?"

"Translation programs were not commonplace on Cybertron at the time. They did not become standard until after the war had spread to other planets." Ratchet explained.

"Well, Hunter wrote his name out for me and I was able to roughly translate the sigils." Raf continued. "His name was really 'One who is mighty at tracking down and acquiring his quarry, One who is peaceful,'."

"A very accurate translation of the root meaning Rafael," Optimus Prime said with a smile, as he strode over to where they were gathered. "But given your humans current nomenclature a more appropriate name would have been Orion Pax."

Astonished silence fell on the little group of Autobots. Raf cocked his head to one side and looked up at the towering Cybertronian in confusion.

"Thank you Optimus, but how did you know? I haven't had time to write out the sigils since we got back."

"Because it was his name," Jack said slowly.

"Wait! You mean that rocking fun bot you guys hung with was Optimus? No way!" Miko declared laughing. Optimus patiently waited for the girl's laugher to die down in the suddenly quiet base.

"Yes Miko. Before the war, before I was appointed Prime, I worked as a data recorder in the Iacon Hall of Records. It was indeed my data kiosk where the boys sought shelter, and where I found them."

The stunned silence that followed was finally broken by June's laughter.

"So that's how you were able to warn me about the 'tatoos', and when you claimed full responsibility for the boy's condition you weren't just preventing me from skinning Jack alive?"

"I am afraid that their condition was indeed my responsibility." The Prime said gravely. "They were in my care while they were on Cybertron, and I failed them most grievously."

Their exchange seemed to break the silence and the room erupted into a cacophony of noise. Jack leaned back in the couch and stared at the Autobot leader. He had always respected and admired Optimus. Now the feelings, the sense of camaraderie he had developed with Hunter welled to the surface and mingled with the awe Optimus inspired. The Prime turned toward Jack from answering the questions the others were peppering him with and gave that slow, deep smile that seemed to warm the very air around them.

Jack looked away feeling sick. He knew. Optimus must know what had happened in the Pit, what Jack had done to survive, and yet he still smiled at the human that way. That level of kindness, of sheer fatherly love was just too much for the human to take in at the moment.

Raf was fascinated by the physical changes in the two bots and was eagerly demanding to know how they had occurred. Arcee was demanding why they hadn't remembered this a little sooner, like maybe before the boys had bridged out. June was quietly watching her son and casting grateful looks at Optimus.

Ratchet suddenly stomped one massive foot and the room went quiet.

"Allright! Jack needs his rest! Everybot give him some space. Raf too. June?"

"Yes, Jack it's time to go home." She smiled at her son.

Home. Jack smiled back weakly. His own bed, peace and quiet, it sounded heavenly.

"Hey can we have a sleep over?" Miko demanded eagerly, and latched onto Jack's good arm. "I want Jack to tell me all about the Gladiator Pits, what'd Bulk call it? The Organic Pile? Did you scrap anyone? I mean I knew he was pretty fierce but, hey!"

"Miko, NO!" Jack said and pushed Miko away, with more force than he'd intended. The girl staggered back with a hurt and confused look on her face.

"Just, no," Jack said as he turned and limped down the steps. Miko was about to snap something at him but Bulkhead gently closed one massive hand around the girl.

"Don't Miko. You have no idea what he's going through." The green Autobot said. There was firmness in his voice that Miko rarely heard, and for once she obeyed without understanding.

While Arcee gently helped Jack into Bumblebee, June walked over to the lab and beckoned Optimus to follow her. She held out her hands in a 'pick me up' gesture and the Autobot leader gently scooped the woman into his hands and lifted her to his face.

"Optimus Prime, Orion Pax, Hunter, whatever your name is or was," June murmured softly as she finally allowed tears to well up in her eyes, "you brought my only son, my entire life, home safely." She leaned up and pressed her forehead against the ridge of his faceplate. "And for that I thank you with all my heart." She finished fiercely.


	15. Chapter 15

Warrior

Déjà vu Epilogue

A Transformers Prime Fanfic

"Optimus?" June Darby walked up to where the Autobot leader stood at the main base computer, "may I have a word with you?"

"Of course Mrs. Darby." The Autobot knelt in front of the woman and she was struck by his resemblance to some armored knight of old, eager to perform some task for his chosen lady. She smiled tiredly at the fantasy.

"It's about Jack," the mother began carefully. "Something has been wrong with him since he got back. He is healing fine physically, but something is tormenting him within." She hesitated, wondering, not for the first time, whether she was doing the right thing in coming to the Prime for help. After all, what could they truly know of human emotion? Optimus was waiting patiently for her to continue.

"He won't talk to me about what happened…" June shuddered as her mother's soul imagined what her son must have gone through, "…in the Gladiator Pits. Not that that is so strange I suppose. I can't relate to that, to what he must have gone through. But you, you know." June looked up into the Autobot's compassionate blue optics. He never let her feel as if she was imposing, no matter what she requested of him. She knew his duties were many and vital, but the Prime always gave her the impression that hers was the most important problem he had to deal with, and there was nothing else he'd rather be doing.

"I was wondering if you could have a talk with Jack. Try and get him to open up about what happened to him." June finished.

Optimus cocked his head to one side and stared down at her seriously.

"I too, have noticed the change in your son." He confirmed. "Such a reaction to facing the brutality he did in the Pits is only natural. The first time one ends a spark, even in self defense is, painful." Optimus said gravely.

The human felt her body tense. She had surmised what must have happened, but to hear it stated. She felt tears welling up, the tears her son had yet to cry, but fought them back.

"I would gladly do anything in my power to assist Jack," continued Prime. "If you think that my speaking to him will help I will. He is not the first warrior I have helped through the aftermath of his first Blood Victory."

"Jack's not a warrior," June insisted, "He's still just a boy, my boy."

Optimus looked down at her with compassion. He understood well the urge, the need, to protect the young and innocent, and it was strong in this human.

"Jack is hurting. I will do what I can to ease his pain June Darby. But you must realize that your son may well choose the path of a warrior. It is not an easy path, and not mastered in a solarcycle. It will no doubt lead him through times of hardship and suffering. But I have seen his strength, and he is able."

The human nodded and turned quickly to leave. She knew she would have to cross that bridge, but for now she only wanted to focus on healing the pain she had seen in her son's eyes.

"What's the matter nerd? Can't see? Do you need these?" a lanky redheaded boy held a pair of glasses over his head and taunted and smaller boy, to the amusement of a few watching lackeys. Rafael Esquivel slowly got up off his knees. Vince smirked and was about to push him down again, when he found himself staring into two intense grey eyes. The smirk dropped off of the bully's face and he took a quick step back.

"Give him back his glasses, please, Vince." Jackson Darby requested in a deadly calm voice. Vince held the item in question loosely in one hand and glanced nervously at his friends. The desire to maintain his rep was warring with his survival instinct. He shook a little and reminded himself that this was only wimpy Jack after all, the guy who had backed out of street racing after one night. The logic sounded good, but there was something different about Darby now, something dangerous. The faint bruises from the mysterious bike accident seemed to add ferocity to his face. But as is often the case with young males of any species, the desire to establish a dominant social position trumped common sense. Vince sneered at Jack and tossed the glasses into the air causally.

"What? Can't sissy boy there handle his own problems? I know, why don't we take him out back by the dumpsters and see if he bruises as easily as you d…uhck." Suddenly Vince's head was ringing with pain and for some reason he couldn't breathe too well. When his mind cleared 'wimpy' Jack Darby was pinning him to the lockers with one arm across his chest and a bandaged hand at the redhead's throat. The dark haired boy was calmly and coldly explaining why Vince was, never, going to bother Rafael again. It was as much shock at the violence from the normally peaceful Jack that kept Vince pinned to the locker as it was from Jack's own strength.

"Mr. Darby! Is there a problem here?" Mrs. Ravenclaw, the tall Paiute librarian walked around the corner and stared in shock at the scene in front of her. The florescent lights caught on the silver strands in her waist length black braid that lay against her plain floral print cotton dress, and reflected off her round bifocals. Jack glanced at her, and down at the pleading look on Raf's face and slowly stepped away from the bully.

"No Mrs. Ravenclaw, we don't have any problem," he said utterly calm as he carefully slipped Raf's glasses out of Vince's limp hand, "Do we Vince?"

"No, no. No problem at all," the bully muttered as he slid off after his vanished "friends".

Jack mutely handed the smaller boy his glasses back and bent to help him collect the scattered contents of his backpack. The librarian shifted her armful of books and frowned down at the scene. It was perfectly clear what had just happened here. If it had been anyone else she would have hauled him down to the principal's office on the spot. But the concept of having to punish a "good kid" like Jack, epically for defending a friend from a bully, was a foreign concept to most of the school faculty. Her musings were cut short by the sound of running feet.

"Jack!" Miko came pounding down the hall and slid to a stop in front of the boys, ignoring the frown from the librarian. "Your ride is here." She announced breathlessly.

"My ride?" Jack asked in confusion.

"Yeah! You know; your ride to that doctor's appointment?" the slim Asian girl said rolling her eyes in an exaggerated manner, for the benefit of Mrs. Ravenclaw. "The one your mom scheduled 'cuz you fell off your bike? Well he's here and waiting for you out by the back door. Oh, and you forgot your permission slip too. Here Ms. 'Claw." Miko shoved a folded piece of notebook paper at the now glowering librarian.

"It is Mrs. Ravenclaw, Miss Nakadai." She glared at the girl. "Everything seems to be in order here Jack, I'll get this to the principle." She gave him her best grandmother smile, "Just remember, call the hall monitor if that happens again," she reminded him firmly, waving in the direction Vince had disappeared in. Jack nodded silently and slung his backpack over his shoulder. He said goodbye to his friends and walked quickly towards the back doors of the school.

Miko had said 'he' was here to give Jack a ride. Had Ratchet come to pick him up for more scans? Jack was beginning to feel a profound sympathy for Raf. The medibot meant well but it was no fun being the focus of his obsession. So it was with mingled feelings of relief and dread that he saw the red and blue semi parked behind the school. It was really a good thing that Jasper was the kind of town where a semi parked by the high school raised no eyebrows. He walked over to the truck and jumped lightly onto the running board. The door opened under his hand and he slid into the driver's seat.

Jack glanced down once at the lights on Optimus's dash, blinking steadily along with the Prime's life force, then assumed a driving position without speaking. The act had become second nature now. The seatbelt reached out and gently wrapped around his shoulders and waist. The human didn't say a word as the semi's engine rumbled to life and the steering wheel began to move under his hands. He wasn't surprised when, instead of turning into the ally where they usually activated the groundbridge back to base, the Autobot leader headed out into the desert.

As soon as they were clear of the town Jack let go of the steering wheel and slumped down in the seat. He rubbed his hands together nervously and gazed out the windshield blankly. Seconds became minutes became an hour as the dry Nevada mountains rolled by. Optimus turned onto the flats of the Veterans Memorial Highway. Jack watched the green off ramp sign shrink in the side mirror. It made him wonder. What did veterans think of such things? Did they want to be reminded of the wars they'd fought, of what they'd done? Or did it only stir the old pain? Jack waited for Optimus to start the conversation, dread mounting with every mile, but the Prime remained silent. Finally he couldn't stand it.

"Mom sent you. Didn't she?" He demanded of the blinking lights. "Well I don't need to 'talk about it'. What happened, happened. It's over. I'm home. I'm fine."He slammed his narrow shoulders into the seat behind him and folded his arms over his chest. He was determined to stay silent now. The glaring white light of the noonday flats seared into his eyes. He blinked back tears. The eighteen wheeler rolled on silently.

"I don't need to talk about it!" Jack said from between clenched teeth. He leaned forward until the tension in the seatbelt resisted and rested his forehead on the steering wheel. His stomach was churning with emotion and he held it tightly with his good arm.

The seatbelt tightened just a bit around his shoulders; a gentle hug. Cool air breathed lightly by his hot forehead and stirred his sweaty hair softly. Jack was shaking now. Something within him demanded justice, punishment for his crimes. His mistakes had caused Raf harm. There was innocent energon on the hands he had rubbed raw with washing. This kindness, the gentle compassion that was radiating all around him was piercing him to the quick.

"Please, I don't want to talk about it." Jack begged. He was afraid he was going to throw up. More miles rolled by under the eighteen wheels. A lonely gas station hove into view and Jack put his hands back on the wheel. To his surprise Optimus pulled into the station. The Autobot stopped next to a pay phone and his door opened, but the seatbelt stayed around him. Jack stared blankly at the faded blue phone booth. Outside a dust devil danced to the rolling purr of Optimus's engine. He glanced at the silent flickering lights. The message was clear. He was welcome to speak, or free to leave.

The human reached out with a shaking hand and undid the seatbelt. It slid back to its holder with a soft whir. He gripped the hand hold tightly and slipped his legs onto the running board. The hot Nevada wind rolled over him and the desert sun beat mercilessly down on his skin. His head hung down. Time seemed to stop. He didn't know how long he stood there on the patient Autobot, but he heard a voice whisper weakly, "I didn't want to kill him." It took him a moment to realize that he had spoken. Jack slumped back against the driver's seat and tried to climb back in, but his vision was blurring. The seatbelt gently wrapped around his waist and helped him back into place. Optimus pulled back onto the highway and headed south.

Jack took a deep ragged breath and started from the beginning. He gripped the seatbelt seeming to pull strength out of it. The human held nothing back. How he had insisted on running from Ratchet. How much he had doubted Hunter at first, his joy at seeing Iacon under the sunrise, the terror of the Pits. His voice cracked and broke as he described the fight. All the while the eighteen wheeler rolled on silently, letting the boy pour his heart out. At some point Jack realized he was rambling, his story had become nearly incoherent. He jerked to a stop and just sat there gasping. For the first time the Prime spoke up.

"Speak as much as you need to Jackson."

The human began again, the words tumbling out; half confession, half pure emotional catharsis. Finally he drifted to a finish. It was dark now. He had no idea how long he'd been talking, no idea where they were. Stars blinked tiredly over a pitch black desert. Cold air blew in through an open window. He felt light headed and dizzy. His stomach was growling.

It was not the way of the leader of the Autobots to mince words, and when he spoke he went straight to the heart of what was plaguing the boy.

"Jack, was this the creature you defeated in the fight?" A holographic image suddenly resolved before the human. Jack recoiled in horror from the small breadbox bot, as if a ghost had materialized in the cab. He nodded mutely.

"I do not wish to trivialize what you experienced Jackson Darby," Optimus rumbled gently, "but this creature is not sentient. It is but a cleaning drone, with less intelligence than one of your Earth canines, and no spark."

The human let out a small cry as something released inside of him. He slumped against the seatbelt in relief. He was shaking hard now. Optimus pulled off the road and rolled to a stop.

"But does it really matter?" Jack asked, staring out into the black void beyond the comforting glow of the semi's cab. "I mean, I'm glad that a person didn't die, that I'm not technically a, a murderer. But at the time I thought that it was alive, and I still went through with it." Jack began scratching at his throat where the little bot's energon had spilled down his chest. Optimus could see from the red streaks the led down under the boy's shirt that this had become a habit. The seatbelt reached up and looped around the humans wrist and gently but firmly pulled his hand down into his lap. Jack grasped the buckle in both hands and stared down at the red Autobot faction on it.

"Why?" Optimus asked softly.

"Because I would have died along with Raf if I didn't." Jack said in confusion. He'd already gone over that.

"Many times, far too many times, during this long war I have slain creatures cybernetic and organic for that same reason. Their energon stains my hands."

"I know, but this wasn't war. This was for, entertainment. That bot didn't want to be there any more than I did. I didn't scrap a con I just knocked some innocent bot offline." Jack protested. His neck was itching again but the belt held his hands firmly down. A small diagram appeared before him.

"It's a cerebro chip," Jack said in confusion. Ratchet had shown some to him before. They were like ganglions in the human nervous system.

"Yes. This model was developed at the start of the war, by Megatron." Optimus said. There was pain in his voice Jack had never heard before and the human instinctively reached out to rest a comforting hand on the dash. "He brought it before the council for approval. Its function was simple. Any Cybertronian implanted with it would be forced to obey the commands of the one who held the controller. I refused to even consider its use and the council ordered all destroyed. I trusted my brother to obey orders. Later I learned that he had begun mass production. To this day I do not know how many of his unwilling minions I slew. Cybertronians innocent of any ill will, forced into a war they wanted no part in."

"Does it always hurt his bad?" Jacks asked in agony.

"Yes, But you will find ways to handle the pain over time." Optimus replied frankly.

The two were silent for a while, just sitting there, each sharing the other's pain.

"Jack," the Prime finally said, "I know that you feel you failed Rafael. You were responsible for his safety, and he was put in grave danger."

Jack winced painfully at the words.

"However," The Autobot continued, "You brought him home. At the end of any mission, that has always been my measure of success. How many of my soldiers make it back. Not only that," he continued, "you managed to protect him well."

Jack tried to open his mouth to protest but the belt tightened firmly around his hands.

"Who bears the scars?" asked Optimus, "the scars of the acid rain of Cybertron, the scars of combat from the pits, the scars of watching an innocent die?"

The human stared out the window silently.

"Jack, you did make mistakes. You should have called for my assistance when the small organic appeared for one., but you were forced into a position of leadership with no training, in a world, a situation that was alien to you in every way. In those same circumstances I did far worse."

Jack looked at the dashboard in obvious disbelief.

"When I was appointed Prime, I was completely unprepared. I was a data recorder, a 'geek' I believe the human term is. I cannot list the number of good bots who died because of my inexperience. Well do I know that there is little comfort for the pain you are feeling now Jack. But know this," The cool metal clasp of the seatbelt reached up and caressed the human's cheek. "You are not alone."

"Nor were you other efforts there wasted." Continued the Prime. "'When thos you trust have chosen the wrong path, it may be necessary to break with the. Watch your brothers carefully.'" Quoted the Prime .

"You got our message," Jack gasped. He had nearly forgotten his and Raf's plan to warn the Autobot leader.

"Indeed. Rafael gave it to 'Hunter', to be delivered as soon as he heard of a Prime named Optimus. I realized who it was meant for not long before Megatron and I parted ways. It helped me make the decision."

"You are young and inexperienced. But time and training will soon correct that. You care for those you protect, putting their needs always before your own. That is the very spark of what this means." Optimus shone the Autobot symbol on his windshield. "Were you an Autobot under my command, I would not hesitate to send out others under your leadership."

Something burst within Jack. He pulled his knees up to his forehead and began to sob. Optimus waited patiently as the bitter emotions flowed out of the human. When they began to subside, the Autobot opened a compartment inside his cab containing water and food and urged the boy to partake. Jack gulped down some water but couldn't keep his eyes open long enough to eat. The water bottle fell unheeded to the floor of Optimus's cab as the Autobot gently lowered the boy into a sleeping position.

The uninhibited song of a canyon wren rang through the snow cold air and woke the human the next morning. He was wrapped in a blanket and curled up in the palms of Optimus's hands. Sometime during the night the Autobot had transformed and was sitting cross-legged, tucked in under a rocky overhang. He was staring off into the east. Jack followed his gaze and together they watched the sunrise. The light burst out into the mackerel sky and spilled down into gorge below. The rocks glowed with a thousand golden tones. Trees just beginning to turn for the fall caught the light and flung it back to the sky. Something in Jack's soul seemed to come alive for the first time ever as he sat, awestruck. 'There must be a God,' ran through his mind.

A nagging whisper in the back of his mind demanded his attention his attention.

"Optimus?"

"Yes?"

"This is the Grand Canyon."

"Yes."

"So we're at least ten hours from home."

"Approximately."

"Ratchet doesn't want to use the groundbridge for anything except emergencies until he gets the new program fully calibrated."

"True."

"I am going to be so late for school."

"Your mother has called the officials at your school to inform them you feel unable to attend due to your accident." The Prime informed him.

Jack relaxed back into the hands supporting him and enjoyed the rest of the sunrise.

June Darby sat across the table from her son at dinner that night. He was smiling again, but distracted. He still hadn't discussed what had happened with her, but she could sense he was at peace with himself. The mother was content to let it rest as a secret known only to him and Optimus. Finally the young man set down his fork and looked up at his mother.

"Mom? I need to talk to you about something."

"Anything Jack," She smiled and gave her son her full attention.

"What we have with the Autobots now is wonderful, but like you say the only constant in life is change."

June nodded and waited for her son to continue.

"Someday soon this is all going to go public. The military will have to start working openly with the Autobots. When that happens, I want to be ready."

"Ready how Jack?"

"I want to be an asset. Not just a civilian who is occasionally useful."

"Mom, I want to apply to West Point."


End file.
